LongShots
by AK-4142
Summary: "Pain is an illusion of the senses, despair and illusion of the mind."  A Story of the Imperial Guard
1. Chapter 1

**LongShots**

**A Story Of The Imperial Guard**

_\_

"_Pain is an illusion of the senses, despair an illusion of the mind."_

Yasir slowly opened his eye.

He was looking at white tiles. Several white tiles. It took him a second to realize that he was looking at a ceiling. With more effort than it would have normally taken, he lifted his head off the pillow it had been on. He now saw the tan walls that the white tiles were connected to, as well as several rows of cots with grey clad guardsmen laying on many of them. Between the cots, other Guardsman with white armbands that bore red crosses looked at the Guardsmen laying down.

"This un's finally up." A voice behind him said. "Get the surgeon. E'll wanta to talk to 'em." Yasir looked to his right to see one of the Medics come into his field of view. A tall man with a scar on his chin, the Medic looked at him with an interest he found unnerving. He was about to say something when he heard a new, older voice.

"Ah, good, I was afraid we'd lost him." Another figure came into view, this one dressed in grey as well, but instead of the normal greatcoat, he wore a surgeon's jacket. An Auto Pistol sat in a holster on his chest, and white hair covered all but the top of his head. He looked nearly twenty years older than Medic standing next to him. "How do you feel Trooper?" the Surgeon asked. Yasir cleared his throat.

"Fine…I think…Uh, where am I?" The Surgeon chuckled once, amused by the situation.

"You are at the field hospital for the 902nd Vardan Rifles. You know your very lucky, Tau Pulse rifles are incredibly powerful, and they usually don't miss." Yasir blinked and shook his head.

"I don't understand. What do you mean, 'miss'?" The Surgeon chuckled again.

"Well the sniper that shot you was probably aiming for your head." He paused. "Looks like he missed and just burned out your eye instead." Yasir's eye went wide.

"Huh?" The Surgeon motioned to his left side.

"Try to open your left eye." Yasir tried to look to his left. He couldn't.

The young trooper swallowed hard and reached up with his left hand to touch his face. He felt his left cheek bone, then moved his hand up his face, feeling a wad of cloth with surgical tape wrapped across it and around his head. Slowly he lowered his hand and took a deep breath, realizing just what the Surgeon meant.

'Emperor on Terra.' he thought. 'I've lost my eye.'

~/~/~

**7 Months earlier**

**In Orbit Above Unnamed Tau Controlled Planet, Number 1187**

**189 years before Broucheroc**

Corporal Gazik carefully removed the small glass focusing lens from his rifle. Holding the important glass piece in one hand, he ran a spotless cloth along it's surface. Removing the cloth, he held the glass up above his head, inspecting how the artificial light from the battleship's overhead Illuminaters shone through. The Corporal allowed himself a small smile as he saw that the lens was clear. With great care not to scratch the vital piece, he lowered it back into it's proper place in his rifle.

At 30 years old, he was decently accomplished for a sniper. His keen brown eyes and slender build earning him the job straight out of his initial training. Still smiling, he sat the longlas down. His smile dropped however, when he saw the door to the Cargo hold he was in open to reveal his platoon leader. And a kid he didn't recognize.

The First Lieutenant strode directly towards him, the young Guardsman trailing a few steps behind. Gazik stood and brought his right hand up to his head in a sharp salute. The Officer returned the salute and spoke.

"Corporal, I understand that you are still without a spotter." Gazik nodded.

"Yes sir, Sikar took an Ork blade to the head a few months back." The young Officer frowned, uncomfortable with the mental image the sentence created.

"Yes, well, we've just received a new batch of Fish, so you've got yourself a spotter again." he turned to the trooper, "Trooper, you report to Corporal Gazik from now on, stay with him and do exactly as he says." With that, the Lieutenant gave a salute to the two Guardsmen, and turned on his heels and left the hold. Gazik watched him leave then turned his attention to the young Trooper looking at him.

"Trooper, Attention!" The young Guardsman practically jumped out of his skin in surprise before putting his feet together and his lasgun against his right shoulder. Gazik studied the young man. He couldn't have been more than 18, which would make him more than ten years younger than himself. He was lean, but not tall, and his arms boasted no excess of muscle. Soft features accented by blue eyes and brown hair that had only recently begun to grow back. A kid. "Your name Trooper." The Young Trooper gulped.

"Yasir Corporal, T-Trooper First Class Yasir." Gazik frowned.

"Very well than, Yasir, are you a new fish, or have I at least been given someone competent?" Yasir gulped again.

"Well, I was the best shot in my company during train-"

"TRAINING!" Gazik yelled, certain now that he'd been given a New Fish and standing so that his face was only inches from the Trooper's as he yelled. "GREAT EMPEROR KILL ME, I…" he noticed that Yasir was still standing at Attention. 'Well,' he thought. 'maybe I can still make something out of this fish.' "At ease." The Trooper relaxed. "As the Lieutenant said, stay with me and do _exactly_ as I say." he paused. "What did they teach you training about the Tau?"

~/~/~

Navigator Kashihan's third eye hurt. For the perhaps 43rd time since entering this system, he rubbed his forehead in an attempt to relieve the dull pain. And, for perhaps the 43rd time, it didn't help. He frowned and looked down onto the planet. The pain he felt wasn't like the usual burning, shooting pain he got occasionally while in the Warp, this pain was constant, dull, and like nothing he'd ever felt before the_ BLUE TIDE_, the Battleship he navigated and whose bridge he now stood on, had reached this planet and destroyed the Tau fleet in orbit.

He allowed himself a small smile as he recalled the battle that had happened not 14 hours ago. There had only been 4 Tau ships in orbit, and no orbital platforms. The 10 Imperial ships had taken them completely by surprise. His smile grew as he remembered the way one of the larger ships had split at nearly the exact middle, the tan colored metal ripping to shreds from the force of the _BLUE TIDE'S_ main guns. He would have continued to smile and relive the memory had the dull pain in his head not brought him back to the present. Now with a frown, he looked down at the world below.

The world below didn't look like the home of a few billion Xenos, but, he reminded himself, none of them ever did. The forty-two year old Navigator sighed and tried to recall the report he had read about the world. Given it's distance to the star it orbited, it was estimated to have a fairly mild climate, but twenty-seven years in the Emperor's Navy had given Kashihan the ability to notice a planet's axial tilt, and the axis of this world was tilted away from it's sun. This planet would be in the last of it's Winter months. Kashihan felt the ship move beneath him as it moved closer to the planet.

Rather than built large, super dense, impossibly tall Hive cities like the Imperium, The Tau tended to build out more than up. Which was why the City that they were moving into low orbit above covered 90% of the planet. This presented an interesting problem for the Navy as where exactly to drop the Landers that would carry the half million guardsmen onto the planet. The solution shouldn't have surprised him, It was the standard way that the Imperium dealt with such problems. The ship stopped and he felt the hum of the heavy orbital guns as they began to charge.

'If there was no flat area large enough for them to set down enough Landers,' he thought as the _BLUE TIDE'S_ guns began firing at the City below, striking the same area that 9 other ships orbital guns were also hitting.

'Then we'll make one.'

~/~/~

"Now, Yasir isn't it?" Corporal Gazik asked his new spotter. The Trooper nodded quickly. "First things first," he motioned to the ship's supply desk that they stood in front of. "Turn in your helmet, It'll just give away my position. Also turn in your Vox bead, last thing I need is for that thing to go off while were sneaking around. Oh, and loose your armor, we'll be running around and climbing a lot. Besides, Tau aim for the head and neck." Yasir hesitated at removing his body armor, but at a stern look from the Corporal, placed all the items on the table .The NCO behind the desk grabbed them with a hungry glint in his eyes. The Corporal then turned his attention to the Supply Sergeant. "And draw out a greatcoat, I don't know why they didn't give you one on Vardan. Two bandoliers of power packs, that should give you three full combat loads, a set of binos, and I'm singing out a rangefinder." The Sergeant writing down the requisitions stopped and looked the Corporal in the eyes. "You'll get this one back…I promise." The Supply Sergeant sighed and walked back into the supply room, returning with a Grey greatcoat, two bandoliers, a pair of binoculars, and a small device with a bracket for mounting on a lasgun.

The Corporal took the device in one hand and held out the other. "Hand me your weapon." Yasir handed him his lasgun. "Keep this on your rifle at all times, and tie it down to it as well." he finished attaching the rangefinder and handed Yasir the lasgun back. "Loose this, and I will advise the nearest Commissar to shoot you, understand?" Yasir gulped, glanced at the device on his lasgun, and nodded. "Good," he hefted the bandoliers. "My longlas uses the same power packs as a lasgun, but the larger bolt and the distance that it must travel means it will eat more power, so I only get about half the normal amount of shots off, hence why you will carry two extra combat loads in addition to your own." he handed Yasir the bandoliers, and the Trooper put them over his shoulder so that he could take the next item the Corporal handed him. "Binos, don't loose these either, and," he handed him the greatcoat. "I don't think I need to tell you what this is for."

~/~/~

From his view on the bridge, Kashihan watched the bombardment continue, the district of the City below that the powerful guns were pummeling was almost completely flat. The now familiar pain shot through his head again and the Navigator sighed.

With the ship safely in orbit, his job was done. He was free to return to his quarters until the Captain need the ship to travel through the warp again. A glance left towards the fleet officer on deck told him that the rest of the crew would probably prefer he left. There was no love for mutants, sanctioned or otherwise. Kashihan ignored their glares and turned his attention back to the planet. He would leave the bridge when he was ready.

Looking below he saw another salvo from the battleship strike the City. The bombardment had gone on for, how long now? Three hours? Four? It didn't matter. The entire planet would be reduced to rubble soon. He had read the reports. The soil beneath the City was expected to be very rich, and after the City has been destroyed, this planet would become a farm world. He felt the pain flare up again. This time it was stronger and he had to grab a nearby rail for support. It faded soon, but the constant dull pain he'd felt since he'd left the Warp was still there.

"Lieutenant" he called to the Fleet officer keeping watch. The Officer's expression lightened as he turned to face him. He knew there was only one reason he would speak to him. Kashihan would rather have left without giving him any warning, but protocol for Navigators was clear and left no margin for error. He would have to give him the pleasure of hearing him announce it.

"Navigator?" The Officer responded.

"I'm going to my quarters, please inform me of the next Warp jump and convey my complements to the Captain." The Officer nodded and turned away from him. Ceremony done, Kashihan turned and left the bridge. His quarters weren't far, in case they needed to make an emergency jump he would be nearby, but he still had a sizeable walk ahead of him. As he made his way down the hall he noticed several of the crew running the same way he was going. He watched more people run past him when he saw one wearing a pilot's helmet, scrambling to connect the hose from his mask to the air regulator on his chest as he ran. 'A Valkyrie pilot?' he thought to himself. 'strange, they usually just send the Landers in.' He watched the Pilot take a right turn at a fork in the hall ahead. The Navigator's own quarters were to the left, but he decided to feed his curiosity and went right.

He didn't have to go far. He followed the Pilot until he came to a large window. Looking through, he saw one of the many hangers that the _BLUE TIDE_ had. This one filled with several Valkyrie's. 'Interesting.' Kashihan thought. He saw several ranks of Guardsman, all wearing the grey greatcoats that the regiment they were transporting was so found of. He racked his mind for the unit. 'Vostroyan? No that was months ago. Krieg? No they all wore those gasmasks. Vardan! That was it. The 902nd Vardan Ri-'

"Navigator, what brings you here?" A crisp voice asked. Kashihan felt his blood run cold as he slowly turned to see the sneering face of an Imperial Commissar. For a navigator such as himself to be outside his designated sector was a crime, a sign of Warp taint. A perfectly good reason for the Commissar to shoot him on the spot.

"I…Commissar I…Uh…"Kashihan stammered, he was interrupted by another voice.

"Kashihan, is that you?" Kashihan turned around to see the Captain himself standing beside him. His shock showed on his face as he brought up a hasty salute. The Captain returned the gesture. "I see your admiring the Valkyries." he said with a gesture to the troopships through the window. The Navigator slowly began to nod.

"Y-yes…yes sir, I was simply admiring the Imperium in action. I won't have the honor to see these men fight, so I hoped that I might at least try and see them began the landing." It was believable, at least he hoped it was. After a moments consideration, the Captain nodded and, to Kashihan's great relief, the Commissar took his hand off the bolt pistol in his holster.

"I can empathize." The Captain said at length. "Tell me Commissar, have you seen these men in action?" The Captain said with another gesture towards the hanger. The Commissar looked ahead into the hold.

"I am afraid sir, that I while I am assigned to this regiment, I have not had the pleasure of being a part of an advance party."

'So that's it.' Kashihan thought. 'An advance party.' He had heard about some regiments doing it. Sending in teams to take out targets like power stations and anti-aircraft batteries. Paving the way for the rest of the Regiments in the Landers. The Captain checked his chrono then looked back into the hanger.

"They'll be dropping in soon," he remarked with the kind of casual sense that someone in command of a Imperial Battleship acquires over time. "The Landers themselves won't hit until tomorrow, isn't that right Commissar?" Again the Commissar nodded, not looking away from the hanger.

"Yes sir, I will be among them." The Captain nodded, more to himself than to the either of the two men he was standing with.

"Good."


	2. Chapter 2

**Unnamed Tau Controlled planet, number 1187**

**0315 hours (Approximate planet time)**

**L-Day -1**

With an incredible amount of noise from it's engines, the Valkyrie came to a stop, hovering a mere five feet above the building. Corporal Gazik wasted no time. He released his safety harness and jumped from the dropship even as the ramp was still being lowered. Following his lead, Yasir jumped after him. Having done this before, Gazik landed on his feet with only the slightest hint of discomfort. Yasir, however, landed on his feet only to loose his balance and fall over. Before Gazik could berate the Trooper, the Valkyrie was already taking off into the sky.

"Get your Warp damned ass up!" He said in a sort of loud whisper. Yasir stood and took in his new surroundings. They were on the roof a tall building, and it was dark out. Looking to his right he saw the planets two moons that provided the only natural illumination. It felt cold, and Yasir remembered hearing in a briefing while on the ship that this planet was in it's winter months. There was no snow, but he could see his breath as it left his mouth. Dark as it was, he could make out the edges of other buildings around theirs. In fact, as far as could see there were buildings stretching into the distance.

Behind him he heard distant explosions, like rolling thunder. Looking in the direction of the sounds, he saw the other thing lighting the sky. He had felt the Battleship he was on shake with the force of it's orbital guns when it started the bombardment, but he had couldn't have imagined the destruction they were causing. He kept watching the salvos slam the planet until Corporal Gazik tackled him. Yasir opened his mouth but the Corporal put a hand over it. Looking up, he saw why.

It wasn't any bigger than a Valkyrie, and hovered in the air like one. Rather than the sharp edges of a Valkyrie, however, this airship was all smooth curves and a dirty tan color. Two dog sized disks floated through the air next to it. All three flying machines had bright spotlights that darted up and down along the buildings. 'Devilfish' he thought as the tan airship rounded a building and disappeared from sight. Gazik released him and stood, walking towards the door in the roof. Yasir glanced back towards the bombardment area. He heard the sound of the door being wedged open behind him, then the Corporal's voice.

"C'mon Fish! Nothing over there for us over there until the Landers touch down."

~/~/~

Inside the building, Yasir quickly realized that this was the Tau's version of an apartmendim tower. They ran down several flights of stairs, the walls bare concrete, but still that dirty tan color, quickly and as quietly as they could. Finally Gazik stopped at a landing and inspected a marking on the wall.

"Cover me." He said, taking out a small blue book and flipping through it until he found the section he was looking for. He looked back at the symbol, then back at the book. After a minute, he nodded to himself and shut the book. "C'mon," he said to his spotter. "This is our floor." He grabbed the oddly shaped handle and slowly pushed the door open.

The hallway that they entered was even less lit than the stairwell, with only a faint blue light escaping from lamps set into the ceiling. It seemed that the Tau didn't care much for interior decoration. All the walls were bare, tan colored concrete. Similar colored doors lined the hall, and Corporal Gazik counted the doors off quietly to himself. At the 20th he stopped, starring at the markings on the door.

Unlike the runes that operated the Imperium's machines, the Tau had small square plastic things the Techpriests called "keys." Again he consulted his blue book, looking at the set of "keys" set into the door as Yasir looked up and down the hallway to make sure that none of the blue skinned Xenos saw them. After a moment, Gazik slung his longlas, drew his bayonet, and pressed some of the keys on the door and it slid open.

"Quickly Fish!" he said in the same loud whisper he'd used earlier as he dashed into the room. Yasir turned around and followed several paces after him. As he entered the room, he immediately took in the simple apartment. A small bed sat against one wall with a large cabinet opposite. Directly opposite the door was a large glass window that ran from the floor to the ceiling with the curtains drawn.

Before he could go to the curtains to see what was behind them, a wet sucking noise grabbed his attention. Looking back to the bed, he saw Corporal Gazik on top the bed, his bayonet in hand stabbing down into a lump in the bed. His other hand held over one end of the lump. A wild smile on his face. It took Yasir a full minute to realize just what he was doing. He was killing whatever was sleeping in the bed. The lump had begun to struggle, but with a final, longer stab, it went limp. Gazik stopped smiling, stepped off the bed, then looked at Yasir.

"Throw 'em in the closet there." He motioned with his bayonet as he grabbed a blanket from the bed and began wiping the Xeno's blood from the blade. Yasir gulped, then slung his lasgun and walked up to the bed. He paused, looking at the now bloody lump. Red blood had seeped all over the sheets and he could make out the outline of the Xeno's hoofed body. "Today New Fish." The Corporal said, already pulling the curtains back from the door. Yasir swallowed again, then reached down and slid his hands under the body, lifting it from the bed. He made the three steps to the closet quickly enough, Gazik had already opened the door, and placed the body inside beside several pieces of hanging clothing, and shut the door. The unholy blood had gotten all over his hands. Following the Corporal's example, he wiped his hands on the bed sheets. Corporal Gazik was busy lifting the mattress off the bed. "Give me a hand here. We've only got," he consulted his chrono. "26 hours."

~/~/~

**Unnamed Tau Controlled planet, number 1187**

**0547 hours (Approximate planet time)**

**Landing Day**

They were ready. After Yasir had put the body in the closet, he and Gazik had placed the mattress against one wall, and the closet on it's side to cover the other wall. They now laid on the floor in the center of the room, looking out the open window into the city below. They had been laying there for and entire day, watching the Tau. Waiting for their target to appear. The Landers wouldn't hit until the first light, still an hour away. It was as dark as it had been when they had arrived on the planet. Every once and a while, one of the airships and the smaller things Corporal Gazik's book said were called "Drones" would fly past. Their searchlights scanning for any sign of the Imperium, but never looking through the one window in this building that housed two of it's soldiers. Gazik was asleep. He had delegated shifts for them since they would be there for more than a day, and it was Yasir's turn to keep watch. He glanced over at the Corporal sleeping behind his longlas when he noticed something.

All Vardan's he'd seen in this campaign, himself included had the number 902 stenciled on their left shoulder. For the new fish like himself, this was the only marking, aside from their name, on their uniform. Troopers who had been with this unit in other campaigns, also had 902 on their right shoulder. A sign that they had faced the Imperium's enemies before. Corporal Gazik, however, had the number 42 stenciled onto his right shoulder. Yasir hadn't noticed it before, but he couldn't remember seeing 42 on anyone else's shoulder. He bit his lip, wondering just what the number might mean when a glance at his chrono cut his thoughts short. **0603**. The Landers would be just leaving the ships now. He reached out and put his left hand on the 42, shaking the Corporal's shoulder. He must've been a light sleeper, because his eyes snapped open instantly.

"What is it?" he asked. His answer was the sudden lack of sound from behind them. The Navy had stopped their bombardment. Gazik nodded and pulled his rifle up, looking through the scope. "Double check the range." he said. Yasir grabbed his rifle and pointed it at the building they'd been watching. He flipped the switch on the rangefinder and watched the numbers tick off as the invisible laser shot out of the device and bounced off the building and back to him in their building.

"Just under 1200 meters Corporal." Yasir said reading from the rangefinder. Gazik took a deep breath, held it for a second, then slowly let it out. After few seconds, he nodded to himself and turned his head to look at Yasir.

"OK, listen. After I take the shot you watch to make sure he's dead. Make sure you see him fall. If I miss or he doesn't fall, tell me right away. When I _do_ kill him, make sure he's dead, then tell me right away. Once he's dead we'll have to move quickly." Yasir nodded. "Do you understand?" Yasir nodded again. Corporal Gazik make a gesture, rocking his head forward quickly and opening his eyes fully. Yasir took the hint.

"Yes Corporal." Gazik shook his head and turned his attention back to his primary task, bringing the scope back up to his face. Yasir watched the building through his binoculars. For several minutes the both of them simply watched the entrance to the building. It was a full fifteen minutes before there was any sign of life. A pair of Devilfish emerged from around another corner, swooping out of the sky to land on the ground on either side of the Building's entrance. Nearly a minute later, a larger more ornate Devilfish flew into the area from the same place that the other two had come.

"Get ready." Corporal Gazik said. Yasir watched as several forms left the devilfish. They were man shaped save for their hoofed feet and they wore full body armor that was the same dirty tan color as seemingly everything else on this world. Their helmets were oddly shaped, and had only two circles, one red one blue, in place of a viewport. Each held a similar colored rifle. Longer than a lasgun, and with a scope of some kind. Each weapon also seemed to have two muzzles protruding from their barrels. 'Fire Warriors' Yasir remembered learning about the Tau's soldiers during a briefing aboard the ship before they'd arrived in the system. The Fire Warriors formed into two files on either side of the buildings entrance, bringing their weapons up in front of them in an emulation of the Imperial position of 'inspection arms.' No sooner had they formed up when the door opened and the target stepped into view.

This Tau was taller than the others and wore what looked to be a long flowing dress. Polished stones and gems adorned it's belt and jewelry. It held a long staff in one hand which had a thin blade on the bottom end, and a set of metal fins with another polished stone on the top. 'An Ethereal!' Yasir nearly jumped at the realization of what they were about to shoot. No sooner had he realized what the Xeno was, then he heard Corporal Gazik inhale deeply. He held it for a beat, then exhaled slowly, letting all the air leave his lungs. Then, more relaxed then Yasir had ever been while he shot, he slowly squeezed the trigger.

Yasir heard the sound of the lasbolt leaving the weapon half a second before he watched it burn into the Ethereal's chest. The hole it burned was small. So small that at over a kilometer away Yasir couldn't see it. He did, however see the effects of the lasbolt. The Ethereal's dark eyes grew wide and the Xeno took a step back, searching for it's balance.

"Fish…" Gazik called still looking through his scope. The Ethereal dropped it's staff to grab the wound. "Fish, is it?" He asked. The red xeno blood began to drip from it's mouth and the Ethereal fell to the ground. "FISH IS IT DEAD?" Yasir lowered his binos.

"It's dead Corporal." Gazik nodded and stood up.

"Then it's time for us to go." he said, already running for the room's exit.

~/~/~

Corporal Gazik slammed his body into the door at the top of the stairs that led onto the roof, causing it to fly open without breaking pace. Yasir ran up the stairs a few paces behind him, glad now that the Corporal had ordered him to turn in his armor. As he stepped onto the roof, he glanced to his right and saw the most spectacular thing he'd ever seen.

Dozens of Landers had landed where not an hour ago the Navy had been bombarding. He watched as countless guardsmen charged out of the Landers, lasguns cracking the moment they stepped off the ramp. Another kind of Lander, this one longer and not as tall as the others was offloading tanks. Yasir watched as a Leman Russ drove out of the Lander, it's main gun belching out round after round. A giant tan colored machine stepped out from behind a collapsed building to oppose the Imperial Tank. Yasir had never seen a Battlesuit in person, and seeing it felt a flash of terror for the tank. He looked back at the tank, and saw it was firing as it charged forward, and the tan Battlesuit staggered and wobbled as round after round slammed into it's center until finally one shell exploded _through_ the Battlesuit. The great mass of metal fell and crumbled to the ground.

Looking back to the Infantry, Yasir saw that their advance had been held up by a thick line of Tau Fire Warriors. The Tan colored soldiers had taken cover in the ruins of the destroyed buildings that covered the Landing Zone. The Guardsmen were fighting back, but without sufficient cover, they couldn't bound up to the Tau lines and he watched several grey and green bodies fall to the ground. Just as Yasir saw the problem, he heard the deafening screech of a squadron of Marauder bombers. The green Imperial war machines flew right over Yasir's head and dove in for the front of the Tau line. The Bombers dropped a carpet of bombs onto the Fire Warriors, destroying their frontline and breaking the stalemate that had formed only a minute ago. Already Yasir could see the peaked cap of a Commissar leading a charge into the broken Tau lines. Corporal Gazik stopped and looked behind him to see Yasir starring at the battle.

"FISH!" he yelled. Yasir immediately snapped out of his trance and resumed following the Corporal. Gazik shook his head and started running again. "You get distracted too easy."

~/~/~

**Unnamed Tau Controlled planet, number 1187**

**1350 hours (Approximate planet time)**

**L-Day + 3**

"Wait here." Corporal Gazik told Yasir when they arrived at the large partially destroyed building that flew the banner of the Vardan 902nd.

"Rodger Corporal." Yasir said, no longer simply nodding as he'd done before. Gazik smiled to himself at the young man's grasp of titles before he slung his longlas and stepped past the sentry and into the building.

All the walls, those not charred black by lasbolts from the battle days ago, were the same dirty tan he'd become familiar with. But now maps, charts, and equipment covered most of the disgusting excuse for interior design. This building had been some kind of government office for the aliens once. The entry room was large and Gazik saw the pedestal where a statue of some alien had once stood. Now, only a single hoofed leg told him that the Alien was Tau. Staircases branched off on either side of the room as well as multiple doors. Now the room was a bustle of guardsmen and servitors. Hardcases and ammunition crates lined the walls, and a pair of Techpreists were busy with some kind of machine. Gazik passed through a set of doors and began making his way through a room crowed with desks and vox equipment. Dozens of guardsmen sat at the casters and arrays, and Gazik heard only pieces of the transmissions as they relayed information.

"…Copy, 3rd Platoon, 2nd Company has reached the power station…"

"-are encountering minimal resistance…."

"Basilisks are clear to fire."

He left the room no wiser to the situation then when he had entered. The next door had led him to a hallway, this one lined with equipment and ammo as well, and found his way to a set of offices. After asking the sentry which office belonged to the man he had come to see, he knocked on the correct door.

"Come in." An older voice said from the other side of the door. Gazik opened the door and walked up to the desk. He stopped directly in front of the desk and brought his right hand up to his face in a crisp salute. The grey haired Major returned the salute. "Was your mission successful?" he asked. Gazik nodded.

"Yes sir, the Ethereal fell three days ago." He said as he dropped the salute.

"Good," the Major motioned to a map spread out on his desk. "I am reassigning you and your spotter to the 4th Company."

~/~/~

As Gazik stepped out of the building, he heard the roar of a Lander's engines as another regiment landed onto the planet. He watched the Lander drop towards the landing zone several kilometers away until his view was obscured by the buildings still standing in this area. To his left a Commissar was directing a group of Guardsmen who were dousing a pile of Tau civilian corpses with fuel. With a look of indifference, the Commissar lit an Eithostick and tossed the match into the pile, igniting the bodies.

"Fish!" Gazik called. Immediately a young guardsman looked up from a conversation he was having with two others and ran to him.

"Corporal." Yasir said as he reached him. Gazik reached into his greatcoat, took out a pack of Eithosticks and put one in his mouth.

"Time to go."


	3. Chapter 3

**Unnamed Tau Controlled planet, number 1187**

**1408 hours (Approximate planet time)**

**L-Day + 44**

**83 Kilometers from the landing zone**

'It's still cold.' Yasir thought to himself as the grey Leman Russ he was riding on top of passed another building and a cold breeze blowing down an alleyway collided with him. It had been over a month since Corporal Gazik and himself had been reassigned to the 4th Company. Since then the 902nd had been advancing constantly. Other units in the city were reporting similar stories of success. The Tau, it seemed, were retreating without mounting any kind of serious defense. Looking over towards the Tank's turret, he saw Corporal Gazik talking to the Tank's Commander standing in the hatch.

"So they don't give you too much trouble?" Gazik asked. The Commander shook his headset capped head.

"Nah, I mean, those big pulse cannons of theirs do some pretty serious damage, but the burst guns, they just bounce off the sides." He accented his point by banging his hand on the side of the Tank's turret. Gazik nodded. " 'sides," The Commander continued. "A few shells 'ill turn any battlesuit to scrap."

"Good to know." Gazik replied. Yasir turned his attention away from them just in time to see the lead tank in their column explode.

Yasir hadn't seen what had hit it, but he saw the effects. The Leman Russ's turret shot out and up. Red flames burst out of the hole where the turret had been and every other opening in the tank. Even as the turret was still in the air, Yasir felt Gazik's hand on his shoulder.

"DISMOUNT!" He yelled. "Everyone off the tank!" Yasir, Gazik, and the other six guardsmen jumped off the right side of the tank as the building to their left crumbled and he heard the sound of mechanical legs. Yasir hit the ground and heard the sound of the Leman Russ's turret rotating to fire on the battle suit. He looked up to see the Commander closing the hatch he'd been standing in, yelling commands into his microphone as he did.

"Let's go!" The Corporal yelled. "Get to that building across the street." He suited action to words and took off towards the building. Yasir didn't think, he followed the Corporal, sprinting for the building as fast as he could. The rest of the guardsmen hesitated for a moment, but the sound of another tank exploding set them in motion.

~/~/~

Yasir reached the building just after Corporal Gazik, jumping through the large window Gazik had just broken. The building looked like it had once been some kind of food makrt before, through it was clear that the blue skinned xenos had abandoned this building when the Imperium had landed. The rest of the Guardsmen made it into the building out of breath. Gazik looked back out across and up the street.

"Looks like they've got a pulse cannon set up ahead on the road." He said. One of the Guardsmen, another Corporal, gave him a funny look.

"How do you know?" he asked out of breath. The other Guardsmen looked at Gazik as well. He sighed.

"Because…because I've seen what pulse cannons do to armor," he motioned to the burning Leman Russ in the street. "And that's it." The other Guardsmen seemed to accept this but the new Corporal wasn't so sure.

"I don't know, I think…I think we need to break contact." He looked at the other guardsman for reassurance. "You know, fall back." Gazik nodded.

"You do that," he started moving towards the back of the building. "I didn't come halfway across the Galaxy to turn around and let the Tau get on the offensive. I came to kill them." The new Corporal was dumbfounded, watching Gazik leave out the back, then looking at Yasir. Yasir dodged his gaze and took off after Gazik. As before, the rest of the guardsmen hesitated for a moment, then followed after him. Leaving the New Corporal alone in the Markt.

~/~/~

Yasir couldn't tell if he really knew or if it was a lucky guess, but Corporal Gazik seemed to know that the back door of the building would lead to an alleyway. Regardless, he and the other five guardsmen followed him down the alleyway as quietly as they could while moving quickly. It wasn't long before he heard the sound of an energy weapon. Gazik held up his hand for the group to halt and put his ear to the wall they were next to. Then he slung his longlas and took his bayonet from it's scabbard.

"Bayonets, everyone." he said, then to a trooper who was wearing a dempack. "You got any charges?" The trooper nodded and Gazik pointed to the center of the wall. The Trooper began setting a Limpet mine onto the wall, while Gazik addressed the rest of the Guardsmen. "The trick with the Tau is to get in close, they are incredibly weak when it comes to hand to hand combat." He drew his auto pistol in his left hand and the Trooper placing the Mine backed away from the wall. He looked at Gazik who looked to make sure everyone had their bayonet out and attached, then nodded to the Trooper. Everyone took a step back as he pressed the detonator.

The wall exploded in a shower of masonry. The directional mine living up to it's name, shooting the blown out wall chucks through the hole that had been created rather than onto the guardsmen on the other side of the wall. Dust still lingered in the air as Yasir watched Corporal Gazik charge through the hole, already firing his auto pistol at unseen targets. Yasir followed behind him, but this time he wasn't alone, the rest of the Guardsmen hadn't hesitated as before and before the dust had settled all of them were through the hole in the wall.

Yasir couldn't see anything at first, the building they had entered was dark, and dust from the wall covered everything. He felt the urge to stop and wait for it to clear and for his eyes to adjust, but he checked the motion and kept running forward. He hadn't gone five meters when he ran into something solid. Solid and man shaped. Although dust still covered the room, it had cleared enough for Yasir to see what he'd hit.

It was taller than he was, but not by much. An off tan colored armor covered it's body and a pair of colored dots were on it's head. On red, one blue. The Fire Warrior looked at him in what Yasir guessed was surprise, which was when he noticed that the Xeno didn't hold a weapon, but rather an odd looking power cell. The Tau took a step backwards and Yasir acted on reflex. Just as he'd done a thousand times to a thousand different target bags, he stepped forward with his left foot and thrust his rifle forward and up with a yell he hadn't intended. The bayonet on the end of his rifle shot up and into the Xeno's helmet, stabbing through the red dot. Yasir felt the weapon slide through the thin material and hit something soft. He pulled out the bayonet and watched the armored body fall to it's knees and then slump over, the life that had once been there gone forever. Yasir looked down at the slumped form before him, and he felt something pull at the edge of his mouth. Yasir hadn't realized it, but he was smiling.

He looked away from the dead Fire Warrior and back to the fight. The dust had all but cleared, and more Fire Warriors lay dead. The Guardsmen he'd charged into the building with stood over them, but Yasir counted two less then before, and saw the lifeless form of the dempack wearing guardsman who's explosives had got them through the wall. The building they had blown their way into was much like the one they'd taken cover in down the street. This one also, had a large front window that had been smashed out. Inside the building just behind the window the Tau had set up an odd looking weapon on a tripod. Yasir heard an explosion and the sound of gunfire outside, indication there were still battlesuits continuing the ambush. Looking back inside Yasir saw that Corporal Gazik had the barrel of his pistol to the un-helmeted forehead of one of the Tau Warriors.

"Is it loaded?" he asked the Alien in a loud voice. The blue skinned warrior chirped and squawked in it's own language. Gazik narrowed his eyes, pressed the auto pistol harder against it's forehead and pointed to the large weapon. "IS IT LOADED?" The Alien chirped once and pointed to a stack of the same power cells that Yasir had seen the one he had killed holding. "Grab one." Gazik told Yasir, and he obeyed. The Alien chirped again and pointed to an opening in the weapon. "Load it there." Gazik said and Yasir slid the power cell into place. With a 'click' the cell locked into place and the weapon hummed to life. Gazik watched the weapon power up and nodded to himself before turning his attention back to the Alien he held at gunpoint. He held the pistol to it's head for a second longer, then drew it back and returned it to it's holster. The Alien released a breath it'd been holding, and Yasir watched as Gazik raised his right hand. The one still holding his bayonet. The blade traveled down and into the Alien's dark eye. And back out. And back in. And again. And again.

"Corporal?" Yasir interrupted. Gazik looked up quickly, the same smile he'd had on his face at the apartment still on his face for a few seconds. The twisted smile showed both disgust and pleasure at the same time. It faded quickly, however, and with it's disappearance came the return of his composure. He realized that all eyes were on him. He reached down to the Alien corpse and pulled his bayonet out of it's eye.

"Yasir." It was the first time Yasir had heard someone say his name in over a month. "You, and you," he pointed to another Guardsman. "Get on this weapon. Quickly now, we've got a battlesuit to destroy."

Yasir stepped behind the weapon and saw what the Corporal meant. Directly in front of the weapon in the street was the still burning Leman Russ that had been leading the column. Now, one of the tan colored Battlesuits was using the wreak for cover, but it's attention was on the other tanks.

"Aim for the suit's power source. It's that thing that looks like a backpack." Yasir pulled the optic up to his eyes, the sights were made for something slightly bigger, but it wasn't hard to make it work. Looking through it he could see the tan metal clearly, the battlesuit was already nearly in it's sights, and he only had to make a few adjustments to center the crosshairs on the backpack.

"Got it" Yasir said, his right hand reaching for the trigger as he said it.

"FIRE!" Gazik yelled. Yasir pulled the trigger.

Like before, he didn't quite see the energy leave the weapon, but he saw it's effects. The entire back of the battle suit exploded, leaving a large hole where the power source used to be. Flames shot out of the various vents on the front as well as around the battlesuit's head. The suit continued to burn and slowly stopped moving. The Guardsmen gave out a cheer, but Gazik silenced it fast enough.

"Quiet you, listen." The group fell silent and what they heard, or to be more precise, what they didn't hear, nearly caused another cheer. The only sound was the collective burning of the Imperial and Tau war machines. Gazik turned to the trooper who had been carrying a Vox caster on his back the entire time that the sniper had known him.

"Get a hold of headquarters and inform them of the situation." The Corporal walked up to the pulse cannon, unhooked a grenade from his belt, pulled the pin, and dropped the explosive down it's barrel. "Everyone else, mount back up." The grenade detonated with a muffled boom, and the barrel bent completely. Without any more thought, The Corporal followed the rest of the Guardsmen out of the building through the broken window.

"4X-Ray, 4X-Ray, this is 3-18 Victor…" Yasir moved out of range of the Vox man's voice as he made to catch up to the Corporal, noticing that no less than seven tanks had been destroyed by the Tau. Gazik had already made it to the Tank, and was talking with the same commander as before.

"You were right. They really don't give you too much trouble."

~/~/~

**Unnamed Tau Controlled planet, number 1187**

**2355 hours (Approximate planet time)**

**L-Day +85**

**204 Kilometers from the landing zone**

"The filthy blue skinned Xeno is in retreat! All across this planet, the brave forces of the Imperial Guard are advancing by great strides, capturing as much as four or five kilometers of this city each day. They see now the folly of their unholy ways and existence. Where was their "Greater Good" when we landed on this world? It was the same place it has always been, it exists only in the Alien's minds. And there it will stay. And with the might of your arms, the power of your lasgun, and the blade of your bayonet there it will die! Take faith Guardsmen, surely the Emperor himself is with us in this most righteous of undertakings! Trust In your officers, Commissars, and the Emperor and we shall all prevail!"

Yasir turned the dial of the Porta-Vox he'd been listening to, shutting the device off, and handed it back top the Vox man he'd borrowed it from. He thanked him and made his way through the building that his platoon was using for shelter for the night, careful not to step on or kick any of his sleeping comrades as he walked. Stepping out of the room, he found the staircase to the next floor, and at the top of the staircase, he found Corporal Gazik sitting next to a window, watching for any sign of the enemy.

"Corporal." Yasir said quietly so as not to wake those below him, but loud enough for Gazik to hear him clearly. Gazik turned quickly, his eyes adjusting to the greater darkness of the building. With two moons, even a dark night as this was still not without adequate illumination.

"Yasir?" He asked, his eyes still adjusting.

"Yes Corporal." Gazik nodded.

"Good," he motioned to the window. "No sign of the Tau, they don't like this cold anyway." He started to leave when Yasir said something.

"Corporal?" Gazik was already to the stairs, but he looked back over his shoulder. "Can I ask you something?" Gazik didn't move.

"What?" Yasir hesitated for a second, then spoke.

"I was…I was just wondering…why does your shoulder have 42 on it instead of 902?" Gazik didn't say anything for a long time, then sighed.

"That's because," he said, turning around and walking back over to the window, "I'm not Vardan." Yasir's eyes got wide and he looked over at Gazik. The Corporal had a look of regret on his face. "And the 902nd isn't my first Regiment, the Sarith 42nd Infantry was." Yasir tilted his head to one side so Gazik continued. "I joined the Guard five years ago. I left my wife and three year old son back on Saria when the 42nd was created. They sent us to the other side of the galaxy to fight the Orks." he paused and looked up at the sky. "That was when they came to Saria. The reports I read said that they sent ambassadors to the planet. Whatever they said, it was enough to turn my planet away from the Emperor. Our reward for defeating the Orks was to know that our planet had betrayed the Imperium. Of course, that wouldn't do. We didn't even wait to get re-supplied, every Sarith ship we had had made for Saria along with all other regiments from the campaign. We landed, but instead of being greeted as liberators, the people, our own people fought us." he paused again, and when he spoke his voice was higher. "And the ones who wouldn't, who didn't support the Tau. They killed them." he rubbed his eye and his voice returned to it's normal tone. "So that was it. The Imperium conquered the planet like any other rebel world. I killed a lot of Tau, but I also killed a lot of humans." he sighed. "When it was over, we became a Regiment without a planet to support us. So we were absorbed into the various regiments that had helped us conquer our own planet. And I…I ended up in the 902nd Vardan Rifles."

For several long moments neither of the two Guardsmen said anything. Yasir opened his mouth to speak once, but thought better of it and closed his mouth. After nearly five minutes of silence, Gazik started to leave.

"Anyway, keep your eyes open, the Tau hate the cold, but it's getting warmer." Yasir cleared his throat.

"Vox says that they're in retreat." he said. Gazik chuckled once and started down the stairs.

"Tau don't defend. They attack."

~/~/~

**In Orbit Above Unnamed Tau Controlled planet, number 1187**

**1535 hours (Approximate planet time)**

**L-Day +135**

For the third time since the Captain had received this message and then passed it down to the Navigator for him to read, Kashihan read the typed text.

TO: Commanding Officer of the Emperor-Class Battleship _BLUE TIDE_

FROM: The Departmento Navy, Admiral Rask's Office

Captain,

It has come to the attention of the Imperial Navy that elements of the Tyranid fleet known as Behemoth are fast approaching a cluster of Imperial mining planets near your current sector. It has also come to the Navy's attention that there have been no significant Tau activity in your sector since the initial battle upon arrival in the system. Therefore, you are hereby requested and required immediately upon receipt of these orders to take your ship as well as the majority of ships in your fleet and make all speed to rendezvous with the 195th fleet under Admiral Rask at the enclosed location.

Admiral Rask, Imperial Navy

'So that's it then.' Kashihan thought as he closed the message and opened up the attachment detailing the location of the rendezvous with Admiral Rask's Fleet. 'Tyranids.' Kashihan had never been on a ship while it had engaged the Bio-mass dependent creatures. The reports, however, were enough to make him shiver. _Living_ ships, maggot spewing weapons. And all the creatures hive-minded to a single sentience. It was nothing like the Ork or Eldar or even Imperial technology. It wasn't technology at all. It was evolution.

He turned his attention to the star maps and charts, the familiar process of plotting a course through the Warp a pleasant diversion from his current train of thought. He finished his course, checked that it avoided known areas of danger in the Warp, and tallied up the time. The entire journey would take almost a month. No doubt the Admiral had been informed by his own Navigator of the time that the journey would take, but still the distance meant that they would have to leave that same day. Kashihan sighed, and began writing his report for the Captain.

~/~/~

"I see." The Captain said as he set the report Kashihan had handed him down on his desk and looked at the Navigator sitting across from him. "So then it would be best, in your opinion, to began this journey today?" he asked. It was a fair assessment of the report. Kashihan nodded.

"Yes Sir, given the distance and the fact that it will be an Admiral waiting for us at the rendezvous, I believe that time is of the essence." The Captain bit his lip considering the Navigators words for a moment before nodding slowly.

"You are right, Lieutenant ," The ship's First Officer waiting by the door came forward and the Captain addressed him. "Inform all nearby ships except for the cruisers _ASCENSION _and _RETURN_ to prepare for a Warp Jump, I'll send them all the course and orders once they are all ready to leave. Inform the two cruisers I specified that they are to remain in orbit around the planet to provide support and protection to our ground forces until the rest of the fleet returns."

~/~/~

Kashihan glanced down at the planet below, taking in the contested world for a final time before turning his attention back to the business on the bridge. The members of the bridge crew all took their places at their stations and the Captain took his seat. With a final survey that all was in order, he made eye contact with the Navigator and nodded. Kashihan turned his head so he was looking out the front window and watched the stars slowly began to blur as the ship entered the Warp. With a deep breath he reached up to his forehead and removed the bandana that covered his third eye.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Unnamed Tau Controlled planet, number 1187**_

_**1120 hours (Approximate planet time)**_

_**L-Day +167**_

_**398 Kilometers from the landing zone**_

'_It's been over a month now.' Yasir thought, thinking back to when he'd overheard Corporal Gazik talking to the platoon's officer a month ago that most of the fleet in orbit had left for some reason. There were still a pair of ships in orbit of course, and it really was of no consequence to himself on the ground, but for some reason, he got an odd feeling when he thought about there being eight less ships in orbit than before. _

_It was this same feeling that had prompted the thought and had drawn his attention away from the current task at hand. With shake to clear his head, Yasir looked back at Gazik. The thirty year old Corporal was peeking around a corner. He ducked back and motioned for Yasir to come and see. _

_Looking around the corner, Yasir saw that they were on the edge of a large paved area. The Tau's version of a public square. Save for a few abandoned tan colored civilian vehicles, the Square was empty. Yasir was about to ask Gazik what he wanted him to see when he saw it. Directly ahead of him not 50 meters away was the grey form of a dead guardsman. And next to him was another, and another, and another. Yasir counted nine bodies in all. _

"_Looks like we know what happened to 1st__ squad." Gazik said over Yasir's shoulder. The young spotter nodded and slid back behind the cover of the building. _

"_What do you think killed them Corporal?" Yasir asked. Gazik was taking off his greatcoat and wrapping it around the barrel of his longlas. _

"_Tau sniper." he said, pulling a piece of twine from out of the greatcoat's pocket. "It's the only thing that could do that." Yasir swallowed and glanced back towards the square. _

"_So how do we get him?" Yasir asked. Gazik finished attaching the greatcoat to his rifle and looked at the buildings around them. "We take out a drone." _

_~/~/~_

_Ten minutes later, the two Guardsmen were in the upper story of a building overlooking the square. They leaned against the wall along either side of a window, Gazik on the left, Yasir on the right. Both starring into the square. _

"_Tau snipers use a team of drones to patrol their area and find targets." Gazik said, starring into the square. "We take a couple out, he'll be forced to make a move," he paused, "Then we'll have him." Yasir nodded and looked into the square. The other side of the square was about 400 meters away, and buildings with hundreds of windows sat at the edge. _

'_He could be hiding in any of those.' he thought. Just as the thought left his mind, the wind died down, and he heard a faint humming sound, like that of a starship's engine. Gazik brought his rifle up, and Yasir fumbled to bring his binos up. He scanned the windows, and doorways, and finally the alleyways of the building on the other side of the square until he saw it. There, on the other side of the square coming out of an alleyway was a drone. It was about the side of a dog, tan, like everything else on this world, with a single red circle on the front. A thin fin sat on top. The Drone hovered at the edge of the Square for several seconds. Yasir heard Gazik inhale deeply, then slowly exhale until, just as he had at the apartment, every breath left his body and he squeezed the trigger. _

_The lasbolt hit the drone dead center, just below the fin. The tan machine tilted, and dropped out of the air, landing hard on the ground and remaining motionless. Gazik lowered his rifle and Yasir saw him smile for a brief second. _

"_There." he said. "That should get his attention. Though it'll take more than one drone to bring him out. Looking back out through his binos, Yasir saw that the square and the surrounding buildings looked exactly the same. No change at all…except. _

'_Wait a second.' he thought, looking at a window on the 5__th__ floor of a building on the opposite side of the square. 'That curtain was drawn back a minute ago.' Yasir relayed this information to Gazik and the Corporal nodded. _

"_Good." he said, ejecting the now empty power pack and taking a fresh one from the bandolier on Yasir's chest. "Then he knows the game's begun. Let's relocate" _

_~/~/~_

_It was a full hour after they had moved up two stories before Yasir spotted another drone. This one had no weapons like the first and came out of the building next to the alleyway, moving much faster than the other one. The tan disk zoomed across the Square until it reached a fountain in the center and stopped. Yasir noticed that Gazik hadn't brought his rifle up and cleared his throat. _

"_Um, Corporal…" he began in an imitation of the same loud whisper that Gazik used. The Corporal held up his right hand for silence and bit his lip. After a moments consideration, he nodded to himself and turned to Yasir. _

"_Give me your rifle." Yasir hesitated for a second, but handed it to Gazik. Gazik in turn handed Yasir his longlas. The surprised young Guardsman looked wide eyed, first at the weapon, then at the Corporal who had handed it to him. _

"_Um, Corporal?" Gazik held up his hand again and spoke. _

"_I'm going over to that far window." he pointed to the window farthest left on the floor of the building they were in. "I'll take a shot at the drone. When I miss_, you'll use the longlas to take it out. Got it?" Yasir looked out the window and saw the drone still hovering above the fountain. He swallowed and nodded. Gazik frowned and put a hand on Yasir's shoulder. "Take your time and line up the shot. Just like they showed you in training. Get a good sight picture, and squeeze the trigger. The trick," he said, gesturing to his chest. "Is to take in a deep breath, hold it for second, then slowly let it out. When your last breath leaves you, that's when you take the shot." He accented the point by slamming his right fist into his left palm. Yasir swallowed and spoke. 

"Rodger Corporal." Gazik nodded and crawled over to the far window. Yasir turned his attention back to the drone in the Square. With a deep breath to calm his hands he tried to remember the litany of accuracy as he knelt behind the window and brought the rifle's scope up to his face. 

Instantly, the drone jumped into clear focus through the scope. Yasir had a better view than his binos could possibly provide. He could see where bits of the tan paint had begun come off and decide exactly where he wanted the shot to go. 

"Are you ready Yasir?" Gazik asked from the other side of the room. Yasir steadied himself and made sure that only the part of the longlas covered by the greatcoat was visible from outside the window. He found the spot on the drone and put the crosshairs over it. 

"Ready Corporal." He inhaled deeply and held it. 30 feet away, Gazik squeezed the trigger on Yasir's lasgun and he heard the crack of the lasbolt. Yasir exhaled. The red bolt flew over the drone by several feet. Yasir continued to exhale. The drone turned to face the area that the lasbolt had come from. Yasir's last breath left him and he squeezed the trigger. This red bolt flew from the grey wrapped barrel and 200 meters through the air until it collided with the tan colored metal of the drone at the place where the fin met the body. The drone's fin snapped off and the flying disk crashed into the fountain. Yasir lowered the rifle and felt the same thing he'd felt the day the armored column had been ambushed. The feeling that something was pulling at the edge of his mouth. He was smiling again. 

"Good shot Yasir." Gazik said, making his way back to him. Yasir was still looking out into the Square when Gazik grabbed his longlas back and pushed Yasir's lasgun back into his hands. "That'll teach him to rely on that 'Artificial Intelligence' of theirs. He won't waste another drone trying to find us. Next shot kills him." He started for the stairs and Yasir followed after him. Gazik stopped as he reached the first step and looked back at the younger man. "Or us." 

~/~/~

Yasir looked at his chrono, **1312**. He had three minutes. Gazik had moved to another building after they had shot the second drone, and now sat somewhere between the third and seventh stories in a building above and behind him. Yasir was not in the building. He was standing behind the corner they'd been at when they'd found the Square. The plan was the oldest, simplest, most common way to find a sniper. He was going to run into the Square in the hopes that the Xeno would take a shot at him and reveal his position to Gazik. 

"Normally, this would never work on a Tau." Gazik had said. "They're professional snipers. They know every trick there is. So we have to trick him into believing we're trying one trick while we do another." Yasir looked down at his lasgun as he recalled Gazik's words. He'd tied his greatcoat around the front of his rifle the way that Gazik had. "He'll practically have to take the shot, we took out his drones remember." Yasir looked at his watch again. **1314**. One minute left. He looked out into the Square. The piece of cover he would run for was the abandoned Tau speeder 50 meters from the building he was behind. The tan vehicle didn't looked like much. Smaller than a Chimera, and with an open cabin. It had been simply left behind by the Alien's in their retreat. His chrono beeped. Ten seconds. Gazik would be aiming out the window now, looking for the flash of light from the Alien's pulse rifle. Five seconds. Yasir took a deep breath. The chrono beeped again and Yasir sprinted into the Square. 

The minute that Yasir took a step into the Square, he sprinted for all he was worth, putting one foot in front of the other as fast as he could. He could feel how exposed he was, and he knew that both an Imperial and a Tau sniper were watching him. Not thirty seconds after leaving cover, he dropped to his knees and slid behind the tan speeder. Yasir released a breath that he hadn't realized he was holding and realized that he hadn't been shot at. This was bad. It meant that the Sniper thought that they were trying to make him reveal his position. 

"If he doesn't take the shot." Gazik had said. "Don't bother running again, he won't take the shot. You'll have to make him believe that you are the sniper and that you moved there to get a better shot at him." Yasir swallowed and looked up over the top of the Speeder. The building where the Sniper had originally been was directly in front of him. He made the sign for the Aquila on his chest and dropped into the prone behind the speeder and began crawling up to the side.

He had no doubt that the Alien was watching him as he crawled out from behind the speeder. He could feel again how just exposed he was. He felt the hair on his neck rise as a breeze blew through the Square. He aimed down the iron sights on his lasgun, looking at the window with the drape over it. And pulled the trigger.

What happened next was too fast for Yasir to understand until he had had time to think it over later. Not two seconds after the red bolt had left his weapon, he heard the deeper crack of the Tau's pulse rifle. The pulse beam hit it's target, and he heard a second, higher crack. Yasir looked up in time to see a red bolt fly out of a building on the side closer to him and fly into the window directly above the one he'd just shot into. Then everything was quiet. Yasir felt his body with his right hand.

'left arm, legs, face, head, no blood. He didn't hit me?" Yasir couldn't believe it. 'He had to have hit me.' he thought. He could smell something burning, he looked at his rifle and saw that where the rangefinder on his weapon once was, there was now only the charred remains of the mounting bracket. "Emperor on the throne, he hit the rangefinder."

~/~/~

Gazik, auto pistol in hand, burst through the door and into the room on the sixth floor of the building that he'd shot into. The room was mostly empty, save for a bed roll and a deactivated drone next to it. But what interested the Sniper and his spotter behind him was the tan suited body behind the window. The lasbolt had burned completely through the Alien's neck, leaving a charred hole in the wall behind it. Gazik holstered his pistol and walked up to the dead Xeno.

"Look here." he said, grabbing the Tau's head. Unlike the rest of the Fire Warriors Yasir had seen so far, this one wore a white helmet with a red line on each side. "Tau Sniper's wear these helmets. Being a sniper is a matter of pride for them, and these lines represent their rank as snipers. This one was pretty new, only one, but I've seen as many as three." Gazik pulled his bayonet from it's scabbard and used it to pry off one of the sides of the helmet with the red line. The piece broke off, and he put it in his greatcoat pocket. He glanced up at Yasir who was looking at him with a curious expression. "Trophy." he said, putting the bayonet away and grabbing the Alien's chin with his left hand and the base of it's skull with his right. With a quick motion, he twisted the head farther than it could safely go and Yasir heard a wet cracking sound. The Corporal stood and patted Yasir on the shoulder as he walked past. "Don't worry, you'll get plenty yourself."

~/~/~

**INTERLUDE **

**Imperial Cruiser **_**ASCENSION **_

**In Orbit Above Unnamed Tau Controlled planet, number 1187**

**1556 hours (Approximate planet time)**

**L-Day +186**

"Sir, I'm detecting a warp jump on the opposite side of the planet." Havk, the first officer of the cruiser _ASCENSION_,snapped out of his daydream.

"How was that?" he asked, turning lazily in the command chair so he could see the junior officer.

"Something just warped into the system opposite us around the planet sir." Havk bit his lip and looked up at the ceiling. There had been no word from the fleet since it had left to deal with the Tyranid fleet almost two months ago. 'Was it two months?' he thought. 'Maybe it was more.' He could never remember. 'Nothing ever happens out here in orbit anyway. This is probably just some merchant ship, lost and looking for the Astronomican.'

"Shall we alert the Captain sir?" The First Officer shook his head.

"No, don't wake him. No need to bother him with something like this. What is our visitor doing anyway?" The Officer looked back at the screen at his station.

"It's…It's coming around the planet towards us sir." Havk frowned. 'That's strange.' he thought. 'Still, no reason to raise the alarm.'

"Bring us around, let' s see just what kind of ship got itself lost out here." He said, standing. The Cruiser rotated slowly on it's port side, slowly turning so that the nose of the ship faced the planet.

"We should have a visual in ten seconds sir." Havk nodded and began planning what his report to the Captain would say even before he'd seen the ship. He would have to establish contact with the craft and most likely the navigators of the two vessels would have to converse before it went on it's way. It would probably take up the rest of his watch and part of the next, but at least it was something to do. Havk watched as a thin piece of metal edged out from behind the planet. 'Interesting design for a merchant ship.' he thought to himself. More of the ship came around the planet and Havk noted that it all was an odd sort of tan colored metal. 'Tan, why does that….oh Emperor no…' Havk watched as more ships came into view even as the first ship was still sliding out from behind the planet. The first ship was huge, kilometers long, and bristling with weapons.

"Sir, Tau ship off the fore bow!" Havk moved his mouth, but it was dry and no words came out. He watched more tan ships come into view, all heading for the _ASCENSION_. "Sir, what are your orders?" Havk stood paralyzed on the bridge. Unable to move as he watched the Tau ships move into firing range. There were a dozen of them, and more than half had moved into range and opened fire. "Sir!" The junior officer called again.

The last thing Havk saw was the meter thick glass of the front viewport shatter before he was incinerated by the massive pulse blast.

**Author's Note: I you've been following this story so far, why not write a review? I want to know what you all think. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Thank you all for the wonderful reviews, they mean a lot to me. **

**Unnamed Tau Controlled planet, number 1187**

**1330 hours (Approximate planet time)**

**L-Day +200**

**423 Kilometers from the landing zone**

'Tau don't defend.' Gazik had said. 'They attack.' Now they were attacking. Days ago the remainder of the fleet in orbit had been smashed by a Tau battle fleet. The Xenos hadn't just brought lost of ships either. They had brought troops as well. Now they were the ones on the defense. Yasir thought about Gazik's words as he lifted another pile of dirt from the bottom of the trench he was digging. He was always thinking, but more and more he wasn't letting it distract him from the task at hand, whatever it was. He stuck his entrenching tool back into the dirt when he noticed that the Corporal had left the trench. He looked up to see that Gazik had climbed out of the trench and was looking at a Tau sign on the side of a building, and holding the same blue book he'd had in the Apartment building back when this war started. Come to think of it, Yasir remembered seeing Gazik take the book out on more than one occasion. And, just as he was now, The Corporal was writing something into it, as though he was copying down the Xeno characters.

"Uh, Corporal?" Yasir interrupted Gazik's concentration and the unshaven face turned it's attention to him. "I think that this is deep enough." Yasir accented his point but placing his arms at the level of the ground against his chest, showing him that the top of the trench came up to his name on his chest. Gazik nodded.

"Alright, you can stop." he said, already turning his attention back to the sign and his book. Yasir tossed the entrenching tool on the trench's lip and pulled himself out of the trench. Sitting on the lip he observed the defenses he'd helped create.

The official statement put out from the headquarters back at the Landing Zone said that "All offensive operations were to cease, and all Guardsman, on pain of death, were to defend and hold all captured areas of the City until the fleet returns." This order had found Yasir, Gazik, and all of 4th Company at the top of a cliff. The City was apparently so massive and had grown so fast, that the Tau had not bothered to level all the ground, creating sudden drop-offs in certain areas. That wasn't to say that there wasn't a way to get from the cliff to the ground. There was a large staircase and buildings on both levels.

'Once the staircase and this entire district,' Yasir thought poetically, 'had probably been beautiful to the dark Xeno eyes.' Now, the Imperium had gone to work, building the area into a hard defensive line. The buildings to the sides of the cliff had all been collapsed. Destroyed so that they fell in and blocked the streets. The only way through now was the hardpoint they'd created at the staircase.

The Staircase it's self was fairly large. 200 feet from the bottom to the top, with landings every 50 feet. Tan, not that anyone had expected any other color at this point, and wide enough that four chimera's could come down side by side. Statues and plants had once graced the landings, but now they were home to heavy bolters, Auto cannons, Missile launchers, and more sandbags than he had thought that they could fill. Closer to the top, he saw a pair of Leman Russ Demolishers dug into positions on the last landing, and at the top, a line of Basilisks came into view, barely on the crest of the hill. Yasir turned his eyes down to the bottom of the hill. Where he was.

Despite the defenses on the stairs, he and the rest of the Company had been at work the entire day digging lines of trenches and heavy weapon positions. The one that he had just completed he judged to be at least 50 meters from the stairs, and made up the front line. There was really no telling just what the Tau would throw at them. The only thing that was certain was that they would come. Yasir realized that he had let himself become distracted again and picked up the entrenching tool he'd set down. Gazik's words echoed in his mind as he hopped off the lip of the trench and went to return the entrenching tool to the supply sergeant he gotten it from.

'Tau don't defend, they attack.'

~/~/~

"Corporal?" Yasir said in the kind of tone that conveyed the single word as a question. Gazik turned his attention from the distant city in front of him and to the Trooper in the trench with him.

"What is it?" He asked. It was dark but, as Yasir had noticed every other night on this planet, there was plenty of illumination thanks to the world's two moons, each at about half tonight. Yasir swallowed before speaking.

"I was just wondering. What's that blue book your always writing in?" Gazik's dark form looked slightly taken back, but Yasir had trouble reading body language in the semi-dark. The Corporal cast a glance out towards the city, then turned his head back to Yasir.

"This," He said in an uncharacteristically proud voice, removing the book from his trench coat's inner pocket. "This is it. Everything that I've learned about those vile blue-skins is in here." he opened the book and flipped through some of the pages. "I've translated some of their language, drawn up information about their vehicles, their technology, everything that the Imperium is still learning, I learned on Saira years ago." Yasir frowned and shook his head.

"I think…" The Trooper took his time. "I think that everything I need to know about these aliens the Commissar's have put out." Gazik's mouth moved in an expression that Yasir couldn't discern.

"Perhaps." he said flatly, the pride from his voice gone. "But, did the Commissant put out anything about the Tau Stealth Teams?" Yasir cocked his head to one side at the unfamiliar term.

"Stealth Teams?" Again he said the words in the tone that conveyed them as a question. Gazik was already flipping through the pages.

"Tau deploy a special type of powered armor, in groups of four or five. The armor isn't too strong, but it generates a sort of stealth field around it." He found the appropriate page and turned the book so Yasir could see it, though in the dim light he could only faintly see the drawing the Corporal had made. "If you were to look at one, you'd see straight through it." Yasir leaned forward and studied the drawing. The most notable difference between this Tau and the other Fire Warriors he'd seen was the upper body and head. Except for it's legs and forearms, the suit consisted of a single bulky curved piece with a single large circular viewport, similar to the colored circles on the Fire Warriors helmets. "The trick," Gazik continued, "is to look for the shimmer. See, the cloak isn't perfect, you'll see a sort of shimmer or more likely a distortion. When you look at it, you'll get the feeling that something just isn't right." Yasir gulped, uncomfortable with the prospect of invisible enemies.

"Do they…have a lot of these teams?" He asked. Gazik tilted his head slightly.

"No, I've only run into them when in a static defense." He glanced around the trench. "Just like this."

~/~/~

**Unnamed Tau Controlled planet, number 1187**

**2142 hours (Approximate planet time)**

**L-Day +203**

**423 Kilometers from the landing zone**

Yasir was tired. His watch was nearly over, less than 20 minutes before the next Guardsman would come and stand in the trench for four hours starring into the semi darkness ahead of them. He moved his feet to restart the circulation in his legs. Three days since the Company had finished construction of their defenses and still no sign of any alien life. 'Those ships in orbit have got to be off-loading troops and equipment.' he thought, yawning. His eyes closed for a second with the yawn and as he opened them a second latter, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. At first he wasn't sure he'd seen anything. He had been standing here for over three hours, he reasoned, as he turned his head to the right where he thought he'd seen something. Looking next to him in the trench, he saw it again. Yasir could see further down the trench, but the image was distorted, bent. He could just _feel_ that something was there next to him in the trench. That was when he remembered Gazik's warning days before. It was also when a distorted arm slammed into his stomach.

The metal clad fist wasn't properly aimed, missing his stomach and hitting his left side instead. The metal connected, however, and Yasir doubled over and deopped his weapon. He fell to his knees and looked for his dropped lasgun, spotting it only two feet away. He reached for it only to see the distorted outline of a hoofed foot step onto it. Yasir looked up to see the outline of a thick armored arm being raised above his head. Yasir cringed and closed his eyes.

As the arm began to fall Yasir head the sound of a auto pistol being fired. He opened his eyes to see a pair of bullets strike the air above him. The solid rounds hit something Yasir couldn't see, and cracks appeared in the air above him. Two seconds after the first two hit, a third bullet hit the unseen alien and the tan colored warrior shimmered and became visible.

Like the drawing Corporal Gazik had made, the Stealth Team Tau was dressed in a bulky one piece body and head suit. The first two bullets had struck high above the lens, but the third had blown through the red lens, shattering the viewport and whatever was inside. As the metal body slumped over, Yasir turned to see Gazik standing on the ground above the trench, Auto Pistol in hand. He looked down at him and leveled the pistol at him. Yasir didn't have time to panic as Gazik squeezed the trigger. The bullet traveled out of the weapon and over Yasir's right shoulder. The Auto Round slammed into the air, and Yasir saw cracks appear in the air where it had hit. The Cracks moved behind the young trooper, and Yasir felt angry at having been surprised by these aliens. He spun around and reached out with his left hand, finding a rounded shoulder and gripping it. With his right hand, he made a fist and punched the Tau where the cracks were.

Immediately, he realized the uselessness of the attack on the metal body and retracted his hand in pain. The distorted air swung at him and he took a step back. This turned out to be all the opening Gazik needed as another pair of bullets struck the Tau. Like the first, the body shimmered, turned visible, and fell to the ground.

"Get your Klecking Ass down!" Gazik yelled, reaching for another magazine for his auto pistol. Yasir did as commanded and dropped to the bottom of the trench, looking for his lasgun. He found it sitting next to the dead alien. As he grabbed the weapon, he saw another shimmer out of the corner of his eye, this one jumping out of the trench towards Gazik. Yasir didn't have time to think. Instinct took over and his thumb moved the selector switch. He jumped to his feet and brought his weapon up as he rose above the edge of the trench. Gazik had seen the shimmer as well and had dropped his unloaded auto pistol. Yasir watched his bayonet slide out of the scabbard even as he lunged at the unseen Tau. Yasir looked down his sights at Gazik's foe, when another stealth suit caught the moonlight. Time seemed to slow down as Gazik drove his bayonet into his stealth suit, and the outline of the Alien behind him raised hit's heavy arm. Yasir twisted his body to face the second Alien, lining up the sights on it's upper body. He took a deep breath, held it for a half second, and let all the air in his lungs leave him. Then he squeezed the trigger.

The bright red lasbolt cracked as it left his weapon, flying from Yasir in the trench over Gazik's shoulder, and into the invisible alien. The bolt seemed to have been stopped by the air, and the moonlit outline stepped back in surprise. Yasir squeezed the trigger again. And again. And a third time. This last shot brought the suit into the visible spectrum, and a final shot pierced the armor and burned the blue flesh inside.

Yasir turned his attention back to the Tau Gazik was wrestling with. The Xeno had dropped it's cloak and was grappling with the Corporal on the ground. The Tan suit brought it's left arm up and Yasir saw an odd looking weapon mounted onto it. The arm let out a wild burst over his head and Yasir heard a deeper report than that of the Tau pulse weapons. He climbed out of the trench and ran up next to the grapplers. Gazik saw him approach and twisted, putting the alien on top of him. Yasir placed the barrel of his lasgun against the top of the metal suit and pulled the trigger. Almost instantly, the alien went limp. Gazik rolled the body off of him and stood, pulling the bayonet from where it had become lodged in the suit. He replaced the blade in the scabbard and noticed Yasir looking at him.

"Good job." he said casualty. He bent down next to the tan colored armor, as though looking for something. "They could have shot you," he said with his hand on the odd weapon. "but they didn't want to raise the alarm. Luckily for us, Tau are no good up close." He let go of the arm and stood. "Still believe that the Commissars put out everything you need to know?"

~/~/~

**Unnamed Tau Controlled planet, number 1187**

**1158 hours (Approximate planet time)**

**L-Day +204**

**423 Kilometers from the landing zone**

"Get ready." Gazik commanded. The dozen or so Guardsmen in the trench all nodded and turned their attention to the city ahead of them. The buildings ahead of them had all been destroyed in the days before, and only rubble laid out in front of them.

'It was from this direction,' Yasir thought. 'that the Tau would come.' Gazik had relayed the Stealth Team's actions the previous night to the Commander, but he had told them what the probe meant long before anything was put out.

"This is classic for the Tau." he had said only hours ago. "They always send in stealth teams before a big attack, let's them scout out the area." Up and down the lines of trenches, Guardsmen were coming on line, looking into the city in an attempt to spot the Aliens before they came within range.

"If they come today," Gazik began again, "They'll come now, at the hottest part of the day." A Trooper standing nest to him began putting his bayonet onto his lasgun when Gazik's hand stayed him. "Don't bother." he said. "Tau don't get that close when they attack. The only things that they'll send up close are their Battlesuits," he tapped the Troopers blade. "And this won't help you against them." Yasir heard footsteps behind him and turned to see the peeked cap of a Commissar along with a trio of troopers carrying the pieces and ammunition for a tripod mounted Rocket Launcher. The Commissar dropped into the trench and Gazik let go of the Troopers bayonet and moved to attention.

"Squad, Attention!" The Corporal called, moving his right hand to his face in a quick salute.

"At ease Corporal." The Commissar said returning the salute and looking up and down the trench. "Are you overseeing the defense in this sector?" Gazik nodded, catching the three troopers setting up the missile weapon out of the corner of his eye.

"Yes Sir, I believe that the Tau may be advancing on us right now." The Commissar, who looked no older than Yasir, pursed his lips and slowly nodded.

"Do you now?" Gazik nodded quickly.

"Yes sir, Tau like the heat, and it is the hottest part of the day." Yasir saw that the Launcher was now set up and the three troopers were standing by it, watching the Commissar.

"Tell me, Corporal, what would make you think that these Xenos are so sensitive to the heat?" All eyes fell upon Gazik, who for his part seemed surprised, but unconcerned at the Commissar's challenge. Withholding information about the enemy was a serious crime, though only Yasir was aware that he was guilty of it. Gazik's right hand reached into his pocket and pulled out a slender blue book. Yasir's eyes were wide until he recognized the silver Aquila on the cover.

" It's right here Commissar." He said without any trace guilt. "The Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer says that the Tau are much like bovines which, I'm sure your aware Commissar, are very susceptible to the heat. I only naturally inferred that the most likely course of action the Xenos might take in regards to an attack, is to attack during midday." The Commissar appeared taken back, obviously not expecting the Corporal to have derived such a conclusion, and perhaps mentally scolding himself for overlooking such a conclusion himself. He regained his composure quickly however, and nodded slowly once more.

"Very good Corporal," then to the rest of the Guardsmen. "Corporal…Gazik here is right, the blue skinned Aliens are expected soon. Fix bayonets." All dozen Guardsmen in the trench hesitated for a split second, but Gazik covered the pause quickly.

"You heard the Commissar, I want a blade on the end of every barrel!" Before Gazik had even completed his statement, the Troopers had bayonets out and locked onto their weapons. As the Troopers returned to their observation of the City ruins in front of them, The Commissar Grabbed Gazik's shoulder and spun him around.

"Corporal, you have obviously dealt with the Tau before," he pointed to the 42 on his right shoulder. "and I am aware of Saria's fate ,but I am the one leading these men here, is that understood?" Gazik moved to attention.

"Yes Sir Commissar." The Commissar nodded once.

"Good, now I-"

"Commissar!" One of the troopers the Commissar had brought up yelled. "Commissar, I see _tan_." The dozen Troopers inside the trench all pressed themselves against the side of the trench, bracing their weapons against the earthen lip. The three Guardsmen on the Missile launcher took positions behind the weapon, and the Commissar made his way to the edge of the trench.

"Let me see.." He grabbed Yasir's binos from his kit and brought them up to his eyes. "Where did you see…Tau Battle Suit's!" He dropped the binos and in one motion grabbed his chainsword, thumbed the activation rune, and raised the moving blades above his head. "Men of the Imperium, Prepare for Ba-"

The Commissar never got to finish his statement. Exactly three seconds after the chainsword had left the Commissar's scabbard a beam from a pulse rifle blew through the young nose and burned out the Imperial brains. Looking at the Commissar's headless frame next to him Yasir remembered a passage from the same book that Gazik had shown the Commissar only minutes ago, one dealing with lost limbs.

"_If Shock sets in, the victim may not feel any pain. He may become unaware of the battle raging around him."_ Covered in the Commissar's blood, Yasir wondered if that applied to those that had lost their head as well. Yasir watched the Commissar's body hold it's final position for a moment, then it toppled over. Yasir watched it fall and he realized that he had become distracted again. He shook his head and saw that the rest of the Guardsmen in the trench had ducked below the trench line. Yasir felt a hand reach up and yank him down by his greatcoat's collar. He found himself face to face with Corporal Gazik.

"Warp blast it Yasir! You HAVE to keep focused." More, larger pulse blasts rang out, and Yasir saw the edges of them fly over the trench to impact on their targets on the staircase. Inside the trench, the other Guardsmen also saw the pulse blasts.

"Whatdowedowhatdowedo?" a frantic one said.

"Shut up!" Another yelled, punching the first in the shoulder. "We've got aliens to kill!" The first one shook his head franticly.

"They shot the Commissar!" He yelled. The second one stood above the level of the trench.

"I will not run in the face of the-"

'Another statement forever unfinished.' Yasir thought as this Man's head exploded as well. More troopers began to panic, their voices merging into a single mur. Gazik stood in a crouch, keeping himself as high as he could without allowing himself to be exposed to the Tau snipers.

"SHUT YOUR WARP FUCKED MOUTHS!" He yelled in a voice that would have made the dead Commissar jealous. The Guardsmen all fell silent. The sound of the pulse guns continued but a new sound joined the chorus. The steady chug of the heavy bolters and the boom of the Basilisks and Demolishers. The Imperium was returning fire. Gazik moved to the center of the trench where the Commissar's headless body laid. He reached down and picked up the chainsword. "Get your shit together. We are the Imperial Guard, and I will burn in the warp before I cower before some blue skinned aliens."

"T-Then what do we do Corporal?" The same frantic Guardsman asked. Gazik raised the chainsword and moved it with each syllable he said.

"We let them get close."

~/~/~

Yasir glanced at his chrono. Five minutes since Gazik had taken command of the Trench and outlined their next move. Looking down the trench, he could see the other Guardsmen. All of them had taken up the standing crouch that Gazik had introduced, and all eyes were towards the frontline. They could still hear the pulse beams, but as the minutes ticked off, the impact sounds became quieter, while the report from the weapons grew louder.

"Remember, when I say to, everyone will pop out of the trench, bring their weapons on line and prepare to fire." Gazik said in his loud whisper. "Do not fire until I give the order. We will not stand a chance unless we volley fire. Is that understood?"

"Yes Corporal." The group responded in the same tone. Gazik held up his left hand for silence and everyone listened. The sound they heard wasn't mechanical, but rather animal. Like a hundred horses were walking towards them. Yasir grit his teeth in anticipation, as the hoofed feet came closer. He watched as Gazik slowly, but smoothly moved the chainsword so that it was pointing at the sky. All eyes were attracted by the moving sword, and when Gazik had eye contact with the entire squad, he nodded.

"SQUAD, ON LINE!" he bellowed, standing and holding the heavy sword above his head, his longlas slung on his back. The entire trench seemed to move as every human in it stood and pressed themselves against the dirt wall, lasgun barrels and bayonets pointing out towards the advancing enemy. Yasir brought his weapon up as well, and looking down the sights, he was surprised by what he saw. Not because he had expected something else, but because it looked exactly like he thought it would.

There were hundreds of them, all wearing their tan armor and carrying their long pulse rifles. They were walking in a sort of staggered line, several ranks deep, and they were already within a hundred meters. It was impossible to read any kind of expression from their helmets, but their body language showed that they were not expecting Guardsmen this close. They stopped and Gazik bellowed another order.

"GET READY!" A dozen or so thumbs moved their selector switches from SAFE to SEMI. One hundred meters away, the Aliens began to kneel. "FIRE!" The lasguns cracked and red bolts flew out towards the Tan enemies. They seemed to all impact at once, taking those standing in the stomach, and those kneeling in the face. The Tau line took the full force of the volley, all of those hit falling to the ground. However, the Tau still living reformed their line, the remains of the first rank kneeling, the uninjured second coming up behind them. Both ranks raised their rifles.

Behind him, Yasir could hear Gazik pacing down the trench. "STEADY…FIRE!" Again, red bolts danced out towards their targets, and again tan bodies hit the dirt. This time however, they returned fire. As the pulse beams always did, Yasir barely saw the white beams. They did, however, impact with the same power as the Imperial volley. Yasir heard two men scream out in pain and drop to the bottom of the trench, wriggling in pain. "SWITICH TO FULL AUTO AND FIRE AT WILL!" Then to the three Guardsmen the Commissar had brought up. "You three! Get that launcher up! The battlesuit's will be up next. Yasir flicked the selector switch on his lasgun with his thumb, starring at the tan colored line in front of him. The Tau had abandoned volley fire as well, firing as the Guardsmen were. Yasir noticed that most of the Guardsmen were firing wildly, most already on their second magazine. Yasir placed his iron sites on one of the few Fire Warriors still kneeling. He breathed in, held it for a moment, then let all the air in his body leave him. His thumb pushed the selector back to SEMI and squeezed the trigger. The red bolt burned into the tan armor directly below the neck on the alien's chest. Yasir smiled to himself as the alien fell and looked for another target.

The Tau continued to attack, and they were weathering their casualties better than the squad in the trench. Already seven of the Guardsmen lay dead, while the Tau lines showed no sign of breaking. Yasir heard the boom of the Launcher and a missile exploded into the center of the Tau lines. The Fire Warriors standing there took several steps back and Yasir thought that they might be breaking when he saw them peel off and form up behind their comrades. The space they created was now occupied by an alien that Yasir had never seen before.

They were tall and black. They wore no armor, only ammo pouches and each had several black fins jetting off their head. They held simple looking rifles with blades on either end. These new aliens raised their weapons and fired. No sooner did Yasir realize that they were shooting pulse beams like the Fire Warriors, then they were charging them. The closest were already fifty meters away.

"Warp spawn!" Gazik cursed. "Kroot! Everybody, fall back, FALL BACK!" The remains of the squad didn't need further prodding, they turned and climbed up the back lip of the trench, a couple firing bursts over their shoulder as they made for the next trench. "Get to the next trench. Yasir! That includes you!" Yasir had been focusing on the new aliens, unaware that the rest of the squad had already broken contact. He turned around to see Gazik standing on the reverse edge of the trench. He jumped for the top, tossing his rifle up before him, and catching himself with his elbows. He lifted himself up and grabbed his lasgun, looking up just in time to see Gazik swing the chainsword at him.

Yasir ducked under the swing, and the chain-linked blades cut the air above his head. Yasir couldn't understand why Gazik had attacked him until he heard the blade cut into something solid. Yasir crawled out from under Gazik and stood, seeing Gazik finish cutting through one of the new aliens. He drew back the chainsword, and began walking backwards. Yasir brought up his lasgun and copied the Corporal. More of the Black Aliens were in the trench and they began climbing out after the Guardsmen. Yasir flipped his lasgun back to full auto and let off a burst into one that was climbing out of the trench, sending it back in head first. Another one came out of the trench at Gazik, wielding it's bladed rifle like a staff, and swinging for the Corporal's legs. Gazik hopped backwards and swung down, locking weapons at the edge of the rifle's blade. The surprised Alien looked up at Gazik and with a sneer, the Corporal punched the alien's face with his left fist. The black Xeno reared back, dropping his rifle and Gazik went for his auto pistol. He drew the pistol and leveled it at the black head. The metal bullet blew through the alien's head and it fell backwards into the trench. Yasir fired another burst into the mass of Xenos climbing out of the trench at them, but even as the shots hit, he saw more aliens entering the trench from the other side.

'We're done for.' Yasir thought as he ejected an empty magazine. He pulled another one from the pouch on his chest. Even as he pulled the metal rectangle out of the pouch, he saw more of the aliens climb out of the trench towards them. He began to place the magazine in the well when his hand slipped. The closest of the aliens swung it's rifle like a club, intending to impale his side on the curved blade on the end of it's rifle. Yasir abandoned trying to reload the weapon, and brought it across his body, deflecting the blade with his lasgun's bayonet. The alien swept the deflected barrel of the rifle over Yasir's head and brought the other end, which was also bladed, up towards the young Guardsmen's stomach. Yasir swept his lasgun back, this time, though, the blade caught it's self on the lasgun's buttstock. The blade stuck and Yasir yanked back, whipping the rifle from it's hands. With a scream, he raised the lasgun above his head and drove his bayonet into the Alien's chest. The Xeno began to convulse, and Yasir removed the blade and took a few steps back. Gazik had stepped back as well. The two Guardsmen found themselves fifteen meters from the next safe trench, and with more than a dozen of the black aliens about to rip them apart. The closest of the aliens jumped towards them, and was shot out of the air.

Both the guardsmen and the Aliens turned their heads to see an Imperial Sentinel walker. The Walker's multi-las wined and began spilling out red energy into the black group. In less than a minute, the entire group was dead. The Sentinel leaned forward, and through the thick glass windshield Yasir saw the vehicle's operator look at Gazik. The Operator brought his right hand up to his face in a salute. Gazik slowly returned the gesture, and the operator lowered his hand. The Sentinel turned towards the enemy and Yasir heard the sound of heavy mechanical footsteps, turning around just in time to see two more Sentinels charge past him. All three of the walkers charged forward in a wedge formation crossing the trench they had just left and making for the enemy.

'Sentinel's!' Yasir thought. 'By the Emperor, Sentinels!' A cheer went up from the trench behind them, and Yasir raised his fist and yelled as well. That was when the walkers exploded.

The fireball created from the three walkers kicked up an incredible amount of dirt, clouding the Imperial Machines from view. Yasir slowly lowered his hand as he heard heavy mechanical footsteps once more, but this time, the walker that the sound belonged to wasn't dark green. It was tan. The Battlesuit came into view before the dirt cloud had even settled. This one was bigger than any Battlesuit Yasir had ever seen. At least twenty feet tall and in place of the normal pulse gun or burst cannon, there were two massive weapons. The looked like the pulse rifles that the Fire Warriors used, but made for a giant. The battle suit stepped out of the cloud and stopped. It took a heavy step with one foot, then with the other, seemly rooting itself into the ground. The two massive weapons rotated to point up at an angle. With the same sound the pulse rifles make, only louder than Yasir had thought possible, the weapon fired. The young Guardsman traced the attack to the stairs and watch in horror as the Leman Russ Demolisher dug in there exploded. For the second time that day, Yasir felt Gazik's hand on his shoulder.

"We need to go NOW!" he yelled, pushing Yasir towards the trench the Imperium still held. The two Guardsmen closed the distance quickly, jumping into the trench that was only twenty feet from the stairs. "Who's in charge here?" Gazik asked, competing with the noise from the massive Battlesuit's guns. Yasir spotted a few of the Guardsmen from the last trench in this one, but most of the faces were new. They looked from Gazik to a man wielding a power saber and wearing a cap with silver Captain bars on it. Gazik approached the Officer. "Sir, we've got battle suit's and a lot of Fire Warriors moving up, and their using Kroot to get in close." The Officer looked at him and frowned.

"Kroot?" he asked more than said. "What do you mean, Kroot?" Yasir took the opportunity to reload his lasgun. Gazik shook his head and grabbed the Officer by the collar of his greatcoat. He drug the Captain up to the top of the trench and pointed to another trench forward of his position.

"There!" he said, indicating the Tan lines of Fire Warriors. The Tau soldiers were exchanging volley fire with the Guardsmen in the trench. Like before, the Aliens in the center of the formation peeled off and formed up behind their comrades. Just as before, The Black unarmored aliens filled the gap, bring their long rifles up to fire.

"What in the Emperor's name are those?" the Officer exclaimed, watching them charge the Imperial position. The Aliens closed with the trench and jumped in without fear. From their position, they could only see the bladed rifles swing and hear the human screams.

"Those," Gazik said gravely, "are Kroot. The Tau use them as close combat troops." The Officer was visibly taken back. From somewhere ahead, the massive Battlesuit fired another salvo. "Sir, we need to fall back, we don't have the numbers in the trenches to stop them. The Officer looked at Gazik, then at the men in the trench, then back towards the Tau lines.

"VOX MAN!" he yelled. "Get me a Vox Operator!" The call went down the trench and a gaunt faced Guardsman ran up from around a corner of the trench, a Vox Caster strapped to his back.

"Sir!" the Guardsman reported. The Officer looked towards the Tau forces a final time.

"Get a hold of the Basilisks." he ordered. "Have them prepare to fire on the trenches." The gaunt faced Guardsman starred at him with a look of confusion. "You heard me. Have them ready to fire when I give the order." The Guardsman began talking into in his Vox headset and the Captain turned to Gazik. "Corporal prepare the men to fall back to the stairs when-"

"Sir!" that call came from down the line. "Sir Tau soldiers in the frontline trenches!" The Officer nodded to Gazik and started down the line.

"All Troopers, fire at will, and focus on those black aliens." The Greatcoat clad men all stood above the trench line, releasing red bolts of energy at the aliens. The Tau, Yasir saw, were using the Imperium's own trenches for cover, returning fire with their pulse rifles. Yasir spied an unhelmented one giving orders. Breathing the way Gazik had told him to, Yasir aimed down his sights and squeezed the trigger. He didn't see where the bolt hit, but the blue head jerked back and dropped below the trench line.

'At least,' Yasir thought, 'I'm getting better at this.'

~/~/~

Gazik was the first one to spot the Kroot. The black fins giving them away even behind the Fire Warriors. "Sir!" He called.

"I see them. First Squad, shift fire to the Kroot. Heavy Weapons, suppressive fire on the rest of the Tau. Everyone else, prepare to fall back to…the…Stairs…" The Captain's voice trailed off as a sound like air rushing towards them broke through the gunfire and he saw something even worse than the Kroot break through the Tau lines.

That is to say, the Tau Gunships _flew_ in. passing barely ten feet over the heads of the Fire Warriors, their sides brimming with missiles. No sooner had they cleared the smoke, then the missile pods opened up, releasing their deadly payload onto the trench line. Yasir watched them walk the missiles up the line, exploding as they hit and sending the grey clad men near the explosions flying. Looking back at the Gunships, he realized too late that another was targeting him. Yasir froze as he watched a missile fly into the ground twenty feet from him. The last thing he would remember would be the sensation of being lifted into the air.

~/~/~

Yasir slowly opened his eyes. He began to move, but found it difficult, his chest and arms sore. As he began to sit up, he cringed from a massive headache. He rubbed his head in attempt to relieve the pain and took in his surroundings. He had been laying on the floor of a small room, much like the one he and Gazik had been in on the eve of the invasion. He saw a few other Guardsmen and spotted the Sniper looking out a window, the Commissar's chainsword in a makeshift holster in his belt. He glanced over his shoulder at him.

"Good, your up." he said, "I was beginning to wonder if pulling you from the trench was the right decision." Yasir shook his head.

"What happened? Where are we?" Gazik snorted and pointed an accusing finger at him.

"You got really friendly with a Tau rocket. You've been out for nearly two days." Yasir rubbed his head again. "Once the Gunships showed up," Gazik continued. "it was over. I dragged you out of the trench and over to this building. The Tau broke through, destroyed damn near the whole company." Yasir noticed the Gaunt Faced Guardsmen from before fumbling with his Vox-caster. He stood and approached the window.

"So then this puts us-" Yasir began.

"Behind their lines. Correct." Gazik finished. Yasir reached the window and looked out into the street.

From the window they had a view of the trenches and the bottom of the stairs. The Tau had mostly moved on, but there were still some of the black aliens that Gazik called Kroot wandering about. Yasir watched one climb out of the trench, pulling a dead Guardsman behind him. Clear of the trench, the Kroot knelt down next to the body, and began _eating_ him. Yasir recoiled back in disgust, but Gazik didn't move.

"Kroot evolve by ingesting their enemies." Gazik said unemotionally, "On Saria they had eaten some of the flying wildlife and were growing wings." Yasir still felt sick.

"What would they want from humans?" he asked. Gazik shook his head.

"Could be anything, our immune system, our senses, hair." Yasir shook his head again and turned away from the window. "Any luck?" Gazik asked the Vox-Man.

"No Corporal, The Vox is fine, but it's like my signal's being jammed." Gazik nodded.

"Doesn't surprise me. Tau know how to jam our Vox's. We've stayed here long enough. If we can't make radio contact then we better get moving if we want to get back to the Imperial lines." Gazik said, turning away from the window and making for the door. "Tau move fast when on the attack." Yasir found his lasgun next to the spot he'd been in and swapped out the power packs. For some reason, as he followed Gazik and the three other men out of the room, he wondered what ever happened to the rest of the fleet that had left before the Tau ships had arrived.


	6. Chapter 6

**Imperial Emperor-Class Battleship **_**BLUE TIDE**_

**1244 hours (Imperial Warp-standard time)**

**39 Days Ago**

Kashihan, his three eyes uncovered, prepared to guide the battleship, and the fleet they were leading, out of the Warp. They had been in and out of the Warp for a month now, moving as fast as they could to meet up with Admiral Rask at his rendezvous. In only minutes, however, they would be there. It was an entirely different matter, though, when the fleet would leave to face the Tyranids. Even as he brought the ship around another star's gravity well, Kashihan suppressed a shutter that an image of the bio-morphs caused. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He needed to focus to bring the ship out of the Warp properly.

The Battleship approached the target coordinates and the helmsman dialed down the power to the engines. Kashihan felt the ship's very fabric slow as it left the Warp and returned to it's proper dimension. He released a breath that he'd been holding and dropped to the floor. Immediately, he removed his bandana from his pocket and tied it around his forehead. Covering up his third eye, lest an unfortunate member of the crew look into it. He took a deep breath and stood, looking out the large front viewport.

He wished he hadn't. Where he had expected to see dozens of Imperial ships, there was now the burnt, destroyed hulls of the Admiral's fleet. Most of the Bridge crew gasped, Kashihan included, and the Captain himself seemed to be at a loss for words. He stood out of his seat and moved closer to the meter thick glass. As he did so, the _BLUE TIDE_ came around the port side of another Battleship's burnt husk that had the words _FURY IV_ on it's side.

'The Admiral's Flagship.' Kashihan realized. The entire scene was harrowing, but an even worse sight slid out from behind the destroyed Battleship.

"Sir!" A young officer called from the sensor station. "Sir Tyranid ship off the Starboard Bow!" It was like nothing the middle-aged Navigator had ever seen. Unlike the square, metal, box-like ships of the Imperium, this ship was a mass of tentacles. It had a somewhat conical shape, fat and round in the back and thin and tapered to a point in the front. It was a disgusting, putrid black color, with shoots of dark red and green throughout. Other tentacles hung off in certain places, and they seemed to move on their own as the horrid ship turned toward their Battleship.

The Captain shook his head quickly to clear it and returned to his seat, the look of determination Kashihan knew had made the man a legend on his face.

"How big is it?" He asked in a strong voice. The young officer squinted at the screen.

"Over three kilometers Sir. It…It's bigger than anything in the fleet." The Captain glared at the officer before turning to the man at the comms station.

"Then it's the Hive ship. Where's the rest of the fleet?"

"They just came out of the Warp and are forming up behind us." The Captain nodded.

"Good. Signal to all ships, prepare for battle." All at once the Bridge became a bustle of activity. The Vox operator began speaking into his microphone, a flurry of words that Kashihan couldn't make out. Other Officers ran about as the Captain gave more orders, and the ship began to turn to meet the Hive ship in a broadside.

Kashihan took this as his cue to excuse himself from the Bridge. Normally, he would have stayed to watch the battle, but there was no room for him on deck when they were facing a threat like a hive ship. He made his way down the hall, planning to do as he'd done the time Dark Elder had bordered the first ship he had navigated for and stay away from the fight. As he passed the same doors that he'd seen Pilots leave from the day the Landers had descended on the Tau, he had to keep to the side of the hallway to avoid being trampled by the mass of Fighter Pilots making their way to their craft. He came to the fork in the hall and made the left turn this time, finding this hallway less crowed. As he rounded a corner he nearly lost his balance as the ship sped up.

'Ork, Eldar, Chaos.' Kashihan thought. 'the strategy's the same.' A lifetime aboard ships of the Imperium had given him a crash course in Imperial tactics. Without seeing any part of the battle, he knew what they were doing. Tactics involving Battleships always centered on using the Battleship's size and firepower to their advantage. When they faced smaller or less powerful craft, the battle plan varied. But when they went up against something as big or bigger, there was really only one course of action. Slug it out in a full on broadside. At over two and a half kilometers long, the _BLUE TIDE_ could put out some serious firepower, plus, the fighters and frigates in the fleet could move to flank the Hive ship as they moved on it. 'Still,' Kashihan thought, coming to another fork in the hall. 'That ship _did_ destroy the entire fleet already. The ship sped up again and turned sharply. It was nearly in range. Kashihan gauged that he was still too far from his quarters to make it their before they began the exchange and ducked into the first unlocked door he came to.

Inside he was greeted by the faces of a half dozen Guardsmen in full kit and all holding lascarbines . Kashihan was surprised to see them when he remembered that a ship of this size had a Battalion of Guardsman aboard to repel any borders. This squad had most likely been awoken and activated when the Captain had ordered the ship prepared for action. The playing cards from an incomplete game still sitting on the table and a line of unlocked wall lockers seemed to support this.

"Navigator," A left handed Guardsman with Sergeant stripes on his shoulder said. "What brings you here?" Kashihan swallowed hard.

"The ship's about to broadside…I needed to take cover." The Other Guardsmen seemed to accept this, but the Sergeant bit his lip.

"The Stand-To orders didn't say exactly _what_ kind of ship or borders are out there. I don't suppose you would know Navigator. Would you?" It was a fair question, but one Kashihan would rather not have answered.

"Tyranids." He said as plainly as he could. "A massive Hive ships' out there." The Guardsmen all showed expressions of dread an the Southpaw Sergeant opened his mouth to speak when the attack started.

The Battleship rocked and vibrated as the dozen starboard guns belched out both massive lasbolts as well as solid rounds several meters thick. The Guns kept firing, a steady chorus of sound from them echoed through the ship. The Guardsmen, and Kashihan, used to being aboard a ship during combat, braced themselves for the impact of the Tyranid guns. The Imperial weapons continued their onslaught, but even after several minutes, no other noise joined the chorus.

"Sergeant, maybe their not as tough as we thought." A young Guardsman offered. The Left handed NCO raised his hand for silence, as though listening for something. Kashihan tried to focus of the sounds of the battle as well. Seconds latter, they all heard a sound that they would have heard even if they were asleep.

In all his life Kashihan had never head a sound quite like the one he was hearing now. It had the painful screech of metal on metal he had heard before when two ships collided. But it was also mixed with an odd, wet, suction sound. The sound got louder and more, similar sounds joined the first. Above the group a red warning light clicked on and the Vox-box next to it screeched.

"All hands! The Enemy is attempting to board the ship! All Guardsmen to Arms!" The Sergeant turned on the holo-display on the table and changed it to a map of the ship in relation to their position. Not a hundred meters away there was a section of the ship's hull blinking red.

"That's it! Let's go!" the Sergeant said, already making for the door." Kashihan was reluctant for the Guardsmen to leave him, especially if there were Tyranids onboard.

"Sergeant!" he called louder than he had intended. "I know a shortcut to that corridor." The Sergeant stopped and looked at him. Kashihan realized just how difficult it must be for him to trust a mutant during an attack. For all he knew, the Navigator could have fallen prey to the Warp's corruption and be leading them into a trap. The forty-two year old Navigator made the sign of the Aquila on his chest. "Sergeant, I still serve the Emperor!" he pleaded. The ship rocked and another of the inhuman noises joined the others. The Sergeant bit his lip and nodded.

"Lead the way Navigator." he said. Kashihan nodded and turned to the opposite wall of the room. Entering a code into the runes set into the door. It slid open and Kashihan waved to the Guardsmen to follow.

~/~/~

The corridor twisted and turned, and branched off in a disorienting manner that would have gotten anyone not familiar with them lost. Thankfully, Kashihan used these tunnels on a regular basis to travel unseen through the ship. Though he was protected as a sanctioned mutant, it was still better for him to stay out of sight. They came to another door and the Navigator entered the code into the runes on the door. It slid open as well and they passed through into their target corridor. Immediately, it was obvious where the Bio-morphs were trying to enter the ship. A thick circular depression showed on one wall of the hallway. Already, a handful of Guardsmen were lined up in the hallway, lascarbines trained on the depression. The Sergeant's squad took up positions alongside them and the NCO surveyed the scene.

"Who's in charge here?" he asked. A heavyset Corporal stepped forward to speak with him. Kashihan turned his attention away from them and back to the door he'd entered through. Being a Navigator, he had never been directly involved in combat and didn't plan to start by facing the Tyranids. He walked back through the door into the corridor and began making his way back towards his quarters, when he noticed something along the wall. There was a weapons locker along the wall. Sealed and locked the same way that the doors were he had never given it any thought though he'd passed by it nearly every day. Now, however, he saw them and a new feeling moved within him. He entered his code into the runes on the lock and the metal bar slid away and the locker opened.

Inside of the locker were two of the finest weapons in the Imperial Navy's arsenal. In over 38,000 years the pump-action shotgun had changed little from it's original design. Kashihan reached inside, feeling the cool gunmetal of the barrel. The same new feeling that had caused him to open the locker returned to him and he knew what he had to do. He pulled out the shotguns, taking them both in one hand and grabbing the two boxes of yellow shells with the other.

Walking back into the hallway, Kashihan saw that all the Guardsmen had taken cover behind the various bulkheads, corners, and wherever they could. The depression was more noticeable now, and there were the lines along the side where something was cutting through the hull itself. The left handed Sergeant noticed Kashihan's return and immediately went up to the Navigator.

"Navigator! You need to get out of here! The Tyranid will…" he noticed the weapons Kashihan was holding. The Navigator pushed one into his hand.

"I think that _this_ might help." he said, handing him a box of the shells as well. The Left handed Sergeant took the shells and the weapon and slowly nodded.

"Good thinking Navigator." he said, opening the box and loading the weapon with the yellow 12 gauge shells. Kashihan copied the Sergeant's movements, realizing that this was the first time he'd held, let alone loaded, a weapon. The Sergeant finished loading his weapon as Kashihan grabbed the last shell from his box. The NCO moved the shotgun to his left hand and racked back on the action, putting a shell into the chamber. Kashihan loaded the last shell and looked up at the Sergeant just in time to see him turn around to face the depression in the wall.

"Sergeant," Kashihan said holding out the loaded shotgun. "Who should I give this one to?" At that instant the hallway was filled with an unbearable metal shrieking sound as the hull was breached. The depression collapsed in and was replaced by the same disgusting, putrid black color of the Tyranid ship.

Peering into the darkness, Kashihan couldn't fully discern anything. Though there seemed to be movement, he couldn't tell what he was seeing. One of the Guardsmen stepped forward towards the hole in the ship. Then the Bio-morph revealed it's self and the Navigator wished he'd stayed on the bridge. A long red scythe shot out the darkness, stabbing out and into the Guardsman's chest. The red scythe went through the Guardsman's armor, body and _out his back_. The Scythe raised up and lifted the impaled man, still thrashing in pain, into the air.

"OPEN FIRE!" The Left Handed Sergeant yelled. The Guardsmen in the hall all opened up with their lascarbines, red bolts tearing into the darkness. From the darkness within, Kashihan heard an unholy, inhuman scream. The Scythe holding the Guardsman dropped to the floor and a large Alien body connected to it fell into view. It was big. Bigger than a man. It's feet were red hooves and they were connected to legs a sick yellow color and bowed backwards from the way a human's would have been. It's body seemed to be a skeleton covered by the yellow skin up to it's arms. It's two upper arms both ended in the red scythes that had impaled the Guardsman, while it's lower arms were _connected_ to a strange looking weapon. It's head was all teeth, sharp and an even sicker yellow. A red crest topped it's head, and Kashihan noticed other flashes of red on it's body. The body was further marred by a half dozen burn marks from the Guardsmen's weapons. The Guardsmen stopped shooting and an odd silence fell over the hallway. From inside the darkness more of the inhuman screams rang out and another of the creatures appeared in the doorway they'd created. And another. And another until their bodies covered the darkness and they poured into the ship.

The Guardsmen didn't need any prodding this time, they let loose with everything that they had. Kashihan heard the distinct sound of a shotgun being pumped as the Sergeant ejected a spent shell and moved a fresh one into the chamber. Kashihan remembered the shotgun in his hands. His right hand found the trigger and his left found the action. He racked back on the action and heard the shell enter the chamber. Kashihan looked back up to see more of the horrific aliens come through the hole in the ship and the now familiar feeling returned to him and once again, he knew what the Emperor wanted him to do.

One of the Aliens shot the Guardsman kneeling in front of him. The man fell back and Kashihan saw a mess of maggots on his chest. The bugs were literally _eating_ through the man. The Alien turned it's attention to Kashihan and the Navigator leveled the shotgun at it. He pulled the trigger and the weapon thundered with a sound not quite like anything else in the universe. The kick from the weapon surprised Kashihan and nearly knocked him over. As he regained his balance, he saw the Tyranid creature had been thrown back as well, except that the creature had a thousand metal balls imbedded in it's mid section. The Creature convulsed on the ground for a moment until a lasbolt connected with it's head. Kashihan racked back again and his shotgun was ready for action. He adjusted his grip on the weapon to compensate for the kick and fired into a mass of three of the Creatures, reloading, and shooting twice more. The metal spray from his weapon tore into the creatures, downing two, who convulsed on the ground, and blowing the face off a third. Kashihan took a step back as still more of the creatures poured into the ship, finding himself next to the Sergeant.

"There's too many." The Sergeant standing to the Navigator's left said, ejecting another shell even before his last target had stopped convulsing. "We'll have to fall back and vent this part of the ship." Kashihan nodded. He was familiar with the procedure, though he had always been on the bridge when they had done it before. The remainder of the squad and Kashihan all began walking backwards towards the airlock sealable door, firing as they went. They were only ten feet from the door when Kashihan spotted the Creature that was flanking them.

This one had come up another hallway to their left. Proof, a part of Kashihan's mind told him, that the Tyranid's were boarding the ship in force, and from more than one place. The Creature was still too far to use it's scythe, but Kashihan saw it level it's weapon at the Sergeant. This time he acted even before he felt the feeling he now recognized as courage. He swept his left arm out and to his side, pushing the Sergeant closer to the door they were making towards and out of the path of the Bio-morph's weapon. The creature shot his living weapon and Kashihan immediately felt something solid hit his left arm at the elbow. In fact, he felt several somthings on his arm. He looked at his out stretched arm in horror to see a small army of tan colored maggots chewing into his arm. The Sergeant saw the maggots too. He stood and pulled out the Navigator's arm towards him with his right hand, and pressed the barrel of the shotgun into what was left of Kashihan's elbow. He looked into the lower two of Kashihan's eyes.

"I'm sorry Navigator." he said and pulled the trigger. At that range, the shotgun blasted through his arm as well as the maggots, tearing the limb from the rest of his body. Kashihan dropped his shotgun and grabbed the bloody stump of his left arm with his right hand, screaming out in pain.

Even as he was screaming, he felt a pair of arms reach under his shoulders and pull him backwards towards and through the air lock door. His vision began to grow dark around the edges as he was set down. The Left handed Sergeant was the last through the door, shooting even as it closed. The air lock sealed with a hiss and the guardsmen all took up positions guarding the door. Kashihan felt someone slide a band around what was left of his left arm at the shoulder. A guard issue tourniquet, he realized. The Sergeant knelt down in front of him.

"Navigator, we need to get you out of here, we can't get back into the Warp without you. Kashihan felt his vision grow darker. The Sergeant opened his mouth to speak again when one of the scythes broke through the door. Kashihan shook his head.

"Get out of here Sergeant." he said reaching up to the bandana that covered his third eye. "I'll hold them off." The Sergeant seemed confused, then followed Kashihan's hands with his eyes and understood his movements and nodded.

Kashihan heard the sound of boots on the metal floor as the Guardsmen moved farther and farther away. He could see just well enough to see another blade come through the door and help the first pry it open. He pulled the bandana off his forehead, revealing his third eye.

'C'mon then,' he thought as the first of the abominations came into view. 'Gaze into the Warp.'

**Author's Note: I'm pretty pleased with this chapter. What do you guys think?**


	7. Chapter 7

**Unnamed Tau Controlled planet, number 1187**

**0900 hours (Approximate planet time)**

**L-Day +209**

**394 Kilometers from the landing zone**

"Ok…Now" Gazik commanded. The five Guardsmen all stood as one, coming out of the cover that the collapsed building provided and sprinting across the street. Gazik had timed their movement so that they moved across the street in the blind spot between the Battlesuits in the column as it marched down the street.

The sun was out and the winter cold was long gone. Despite the warm weather, the Vardan's all still wore their greatcoats. Yasir felt his greatcoat becoming hot as he ran across the street. Warm weather or cold, Vardan's always wore their greatcoats. 'That's the way the Conscripts did it.' Yasir thought as they passed another burning Imperial vehicle, this one a Chimera, 'So that's the way we do it.' the Instructors on Vardan had told him that even before he had been given one himself.

The Guardsmen made it across the street and dove for the cover of the next building. Yasir was the last to make it, still sore from his encounter with the Tau rocket. He dropped to his stomach and rolled under a collapsed wall from another ruined building. No sooner had they cleared the street then another Battlesuit walked past.

Yasir turned his attention away from the street and to the other Guardsmen. Gazik and one of the Guardsmen were peering out one of the windows and the other two Guardsmen, including the one with the Vox- Caster, were adjusting dials on the communication device.

"Any luck?" Gazik asked over his shoulder. The Gaunt faced Guardsman shook his head.

"No Corporal. I'm picking up transmissions now, but they're too scrambled to understand, and calling anyone is out of the question." Gazik bit his lip.

"We've got to be close then. Yasir!" The spotter perked up at his name.

"Corporal!" that was the only response he could give.

"Climb up higher and take a look around. See if you can find the Imperial lines." Yasir nodded.

"Rodger Corporal." he said, already climbing up the partly intact stairs. The stairs led up another two floors before crumbling in, the upper floors having seemingly collapsed onto the bottom three. He approached one of the windows in a crouch, careful not to show more of himself in the window than was necessary to see. Peeking over the bottom edge of the window, The young Guardsman saw a battle larger than any he'd ever seen before.

Below not two kilometers away the city was a mess. Yasir could see clearly where squads of Guardsmen were mounting the defense. Taking cover in blast craters, behind vehicles both destroyed and functional, and in the lower stories of some buildings. Grey Imperial Chimeras, Hell hounds, and Leman Russ's all contributed to the fight with all they had. The human war machines all dealing out death in a variety of ways. The Tau had soldiers on the ground as well. Fire Warriors mixed the white flash of their pulse rifles with the red bolts of the Imperial lasgun. The Tan armored soldiers seemed to be keeping their distance, though Yasir watched a squad move up to a building. Break down the door, and enter and clear it. The Tan soldiers appearing again on the roof a moment latter and began using the vantage point against the Guardsmen in the street below. Tau vehicles were also part of the fight. Besides a few Battlesuits, Yasir saw several hovering vehicles with large cannons as long as they were. A pair of these tan tanks fired together, and the Hell Hound they were aiming at exploded in a way that reminded Yasir of the day the tank column was ambushed. Despite all their efforts, the Imperium was being defeated.

The Guardsman turned his attention away from losing battle and looked for a way for their half squad to rejoin the Imperial side. The blocks of buildings stretched for several blocks, with Human and Tau fighting all throughout. Although they were at most 1500 meters from the Imperium's side, there was no way to cross the kill zone between the two armies. Yasir sighed, and started back down the stairs.

When he reached the ground floor, he saw only Gazik and the Vox-man, the other two Guardsmen were absent. The Corporal glanced up from the Vox-Caster at the sound of Yasir's boots on the old stairs.

"Anything?" he asked in the tone that made the word a question. Yasir shook his head.

"The Imperium's lines are about a kilometer ahead, but there's more Tau out there between us and them than I've ever seen." Gazik bit his lip and nodded.

"I see." he said, the other two Guardsmen entered through a side door. "You said that it's about another kilck ahead?" Yasir nodded.

"Rodger Corporal." Gazik nodded, then turned to the two other Guardsmen.

"Let's go."

~/~/~

The two Guardsmen led the group down an alleyway to a metal disk set into the ground. They began lifting the disk out of the ground and Yasir realized that it was an entrance to the City's sewers. They pulled the metal disk out of the way and Corporal Gazik peered down into the sewers. The middle-aged NCO sighed and pulled the Commissar's chainsword from his belt and walked down into the sewer. Yasir was last in the group, and stepping up to the hole, he saw that rather than a ladder, there were stone steps leading down into the darkness. The sewer tunnel was different then he had expected as well, being much larger than the Imperial sewers he had had the displeasure of cleaning during a summer on Vardan.

The ceiling was much higher then it needed to be, and he saw several small tubes running along the roof. It took a moment for him to realize that what he was seeing were the Tau's version of buried electrical lines. Humans, Yasir remembered as he started after the rest of the group, had begun burying electrical lines nearly as long as they had known about electricity. Though they had never used the same tunnels for sewage. Yasir caught up with the rest of the Guardsmen, taking up a position at the rear of the group. The five moved quickly, their black boots sloshing in the ankle deep muck.

Straining his eyes to see in the darkness, Yasir could only make out the outlines of the other four men, identical to each other except for the one in front of the group held a chainsword. The tunnel moved in a straight line, thankfully in the direction that they needed to go. As they made their way along Yasir saw that several smaller tunnels led into this one. Above them, the ceiling vibrated with the explosions and noise of the battle raging above them.

~/~/~

Ten minutes of walking in silence and the tunnel forked off to the left next to another set of stairs leading up to the surface. Gazik motioned for them to stop and he began climbing the stairs. Yasir took up a position looking down the tunnel to the left. His eyes had mostly adjusted to the darkness, but he still had to strain to see far ahead of him. He didn't see anything in the darkness and his mind began to wander when he heard a distant fluttering sound. Yasir shook his head and tilted it so that his left ear was facing down the tunnel. It had only been for a second, and it was far enough that it was only an echo, but something about it seemed strange.

"Did you hear that?" he asked the Gaunt faced Vox-man next to him. The Guardsman turned to look at him.

"Hear wh-" he stopped as the sound returned, louder this time. "Yeah…" he said, turning to look down the tunnel. "What is that?" The sound came back, longer and more definite. It sounded like thin wings fluttering quickly, and it was even closer. The other two Guardsmen who'd found the sewer came over and the four Guardsmen all raised their lasguns. The sound was steady now, a constant buzz getting louder and louder as whatever it was making it got closer and closer. Then they saw them.

They were ugly. Yasir couldn't remember ever seeing something as ugly as the creatures coming at him then. They were insects, man-sized and with wings on their backs carrying them through the air at them. Their skin was covered in scales, and their limbs were narrow and insect-like with small, sharp claws on the ends in place of fingers. Their heads were tall and reminded Yasir of pictures he'd seen of the Eldar. The bug face had multiple rows of eyes and a disgusting mouth that was all teeth with barbed jaws. The bug's two arms held an odd looking weapon. It wasn't as long as a lasgun, though it looked much bulkier and ended in a pair of prongs rather than a muzzle. One of the Bugs fired a burst from it's weapon, a trio of whit beams shooting out towards the Guardsmen. Yasir brought his lasgun up to his face, when he smelled something burning. He looked to his right to see the Gaunt faced Guardsman convulsing on the ground, black burn marks on his face and arms. With the Bugs now only fifty feet away, The remaining Guardsmen opened fire. They shot as one, the red bolts and the crack of their lasguns familiar to them. The Guardsmen's fire proved effective, cutting three of the Bugs out of the air, but they were still closing in quickly, now thirty feet away. Yasir shot a second Bug through it's midsection and took aim at another when it was knocked out of the air by a solid round.

"Time to get topside!" Gazik yelled from the stairs, shooting his Auto pistol into the mass of flying bugs. Yasir slung his lasgun and reached down for the Wounded Vox-man. He reached his arms under the wounded man's armpits and locked hands over his chest and began dragging him towards the stairs. The other two Guardsmen noticed his actions and placed their weapons on Full Auto to cover him, walking backwards as they did. The Bugs seemed to noticed this as well and adjusted their fire to shoot at the wounded man. Before Yasir had pulled him ten feet a half dozen more white bolts burned into the Gaunt-faced Guardsman's chest and the body went limp in the Spotter's arms.

Yasir felt his blood boil. He dropped his dead comrade an unsung his lasgun. In one motion he flipped the selector switch to Full Auto and began firing from the hip, yelling insults at the Bugs as they drew ever closer. The Insects were still shooting as they prepared to close with him, and another of Guardsmen yelled out in pain. Yasir's nostril's flared and his lips curled back from his teeth. He felt his vision began to turn red and the only thing that seemed to matter was killing the Insects. His lasgun shot out bolt after bolt, the red energy tearing into the swarm of flying insects. When the bugs were only ten feet away, he felt a pair of hands grab his shoulders and yank him back.

The hands put him off balance, bringing him out of the trance. The red tint to the world disappeared and he realized that the hands were still pulling him. Yasir shook his head and turned around to see the other Guardsman who had brought him out of the trance. He made eye contact with Yasir then turned his attention to the Insect swarm. Yasir watched as the Guardsman raised his hands, revealing a grenade in each.

"Get up top, NOW!" Yasir didn't think about the man's words. You couldn't argue with a Vardan that had decided to sacrifice himself. Yasir ran up the steps after Gazik, who was firing his Auto Pistol into the mass of Bugs. Yasir sparred a final glance back at the Guardsman, seeing the Bugs descend on the man, raising their sharp claws to tear the man apart. Gazik pushed him through the hole then jumped through himself. No sooner had the two Guardsmen made it through, then a massive explosion sounded from the sewer they had just left, sending water through the entrance after them. Then nothing. No noise. Just the sound of his heart pounding in his chest. Gazik picked himself up and looked around before reaching out a hand to help his Spotter up.

"Warp-fuckin Vespid. They're Tau mercenaries, just like the Kroot." He said as Yasir stood. "Let's get out of the street." Without another word Gazik took off towards one of the nearby buildings.

~/~/~

Only a block away, they found more of the Imperium. The sewers must have taken them farther then they thought, because they came up behind a squad of grey greatcoat clad Guardsmen taking cover behind a destroyed Leman Russ. The odd thing about the squad was that they weren't taking any fire, and there were no Aliens in sight. One of them noticed the Sniper Team approaching and stood, waving his arms.

"GET DOWN! TAU SNIP-" A beam shot out from a building and blew through the Guardsman's neck, severing the head from the spine. Yasir and Gazik didn't have time to duck, only to look up into the window and see a Tau soldier wearing a white helmet with three red stripes on the side. Yasir felt Gazik's left hand yank his right shoulder back. As he fell to the ground he saw a white flash. Immediately, he felt an incredible burning pain in his face. It was the worst feeling he had ever felt. A burn stronger and more painful than he could ever had imagined, and it seemed to crawl back through his face and into his brain. As he hit the ground the pain got worse and his vision went black. Barely conscious, he heard the sound of Gazik's longlas followed by another pulse blast. Then everything went quiet.


	8. Chapter 8

**Unnamed Tau Controlled planet, number 1187**

**1410 hours (Approximate planet time)**

**L-Day +240**

**255 Kilometers from the landing zone**

Yasir quickly opened his eye.

He had been there. Back on the street. Back when the Sniper had shot him. He swallowed, his mouth dry, and sat up on the cot he'd been sleeping on. Sitting up, he realized his clothes were drenched in sweat. With a shaky left hand he reached up to his face and felt the wad of cloth held to his head by the medical tape tied to his head. He sighed, realizing once again that it had all been real.

He shook his head and rubbed the eye he still had. Opening up his eye again, he saw the same Tall Medic with the scar on his chin that had been coming by his cot daily for the last two weeks.

"Good, ur' up." he said in his strange accent. "Some'un important wants ta see you." Yasir tilted his head to one side.

'Who,' he thought. 'Would want to see him?' The Medic left and returned a moment latter with an older man wearing the golden oak leaves of a Major. Yasir's eye got wide and he brought his right hand up to his forehead in as sharp a salute he could muster. The Major returned the gesture and took a seat at the stool that medic had brought over.

"At ease Vardan." he said in a tone that betrayed his both his age and stress. "I trust that you've been recovering well?" Yasir nodded.

"Yes Sir." he replied, his mouth still dry.

"Good. I also understand that you worked under Corporal Gazik as his spotter. Is that correct?" Yasir became conscious of his sweat drenched state in the presence of an Officer and swallowed before he replied.

"T-That's correct Sir." he said. The Major nodded.

"Very good. Now in light of the recent Tau offensive as well as…our…being cut off from the rest of the Imperium." Yasir noticed the Major's hesitation at the second point. The fact that they were cut off and probably forgotten by the Imperium wasn't easy to accept, and harder still to say. "The result is that everyday our forces get pushed back further and further, tightening the noose around our collective heads." he accented the point by wring his hands as though he was choking someone. "So we need every advantage we have out there. And that means every sniper. Now Corporal Gazik's rifle and the rest of his gear were retrieved along with his body-"

"BODY!" Yasir interjected sitting up straight. "W-What do you mean, his body?" Yasir felt his blood run cold. He had a feeling he already knew what the Major meant, but he had to hear it for himself. The Major's eyes opened wider and his neutral expression dropped into one of surprise, but only for a second.

"I take it you didn't know." he sighed. "Corporal Gazik died almost a month ago, the same day you were shot. Most likely by the same Sniper. The Squad that brought you here said that he pulled you out of the way. Probably that's what saved your life." Yasir was stunned, unable to say anything.

"This is why," The Major continued. "I've come to see you. Given the present situation, our own depleted numbers, and your experience these past months, I am hereby promoting you to the rank of Corporal and making you a Sniper in Corporal Gazik's place." Yasir was still to stunned to say anything more than the most basic military response.

"Yes Sir." The Major nodded and stood.

"Good. Get yourself dressed and come to my office in one hour. I have an assignment for you…Corporal." With that the Major left and Yasir, for the first time since he'd been in the Guard, felt completely alone.

~/~/~

Yasir swung his legs off of the cot, feeling the cold floor beneath his feet for the first time in days. The Medics had only removed his kit, greatcoat, and boots, leaving him in the rest of his uniform. He found his boots sitting at the foot of the bed next to a metal footlocker. He slid his boots on, laced them, and opened the footlocker to see what gear had been recovered. His bandoliers were there, but only two of them, and most of the power packs in the pouches were dead. Gazik's auto pistol, the simple weapon was still in it's holster, the only magazine it had fully loaded. His bayonet was gone, but the Commissar's chainsword was there in it's place. Yasir moved the deadly weapon aside and removed the largest item from the locker. Gazik's greatcoat. The greatcoat was the basic uniform for the Vardan Guardsmen, and under normal circumstances, Gazik's would be sent back to Vardan for a proper burning. Yasir sighed as he ran his hand along the stripes sewn on the side. These were not normal circumstances he reminded himself as he slowly put his arms through the sleeves and buttoned it around him. Gazik had been roughly his same height, but slightly leaner, and the greatcoat was a little snug though still useable. Yasir put on the bandoliers, one as a belt, one across his chest. He put the Auto Pistol, holster and all, on his right side and placed the chainsword on his left where his bayonet would have gone. He almost closed the footlocker, when he spotted something that had fallen out of the greatcoat. Yasir reached down and picked up the thin blue book, recognizing it as the book that Gazik had been writing his findings about the Tau in. He slid the book into the greatcoat's inner pocket, closed the footlocker, and turned his attention to the final piece of equipment Gazik had left behind.

The longlas was heaver than the standard lasgun he was used to, but not by much. It was longer as well, but that was what gave it it's name. Yasir adjusted the sling and slung the weapon so that it rested against his back, barrel down. Looking around, he found the Tall Medic with the scar on his chin next to a cot a few feet away.

"Where's the Major's office?" he asked as he approached the medic. The Medic ignored him and continued to adjust the IV bag that was attached another Guardsman's arm. After a full minute, he finished and turned to face him.

"End a' the hall." he said, pointing over Yasir's shoulder to a hallway behind him. "But 'fore you go," The Medic reached into his pocket. "The Surgeon 'ad me make 'is for you." He held out his hand to Yasir and the newly promoted Corporal saw a grey cloth connected to a string in three places. "We can't 'ave you running around with tape on ur' 'ead, and besides, you'll need to let it air out 'en you sleep." Yasir pulled the tape off his head and the Medic put the eye patch over the empty eye socket.

"Thanks." Yasir said. The Medic nodded.

"Op'fully, I won't see you again." He said and turned around and began checking on another Guardsman. Yasir took a deep breath, exhaled, and started off towards the Major's office.

~/~/~

"Come in." The Major's voice sounded clear through the thin door of his Office. Yasir opened the door and walked in, noticing the black clad figure of a Commissar leaning against the left wall of the room, his arms crossed and his eyes following Yasir's movements across the room. Yasir made a beeline for the Officer's desk and stopped to salute when he was directly in front of him.

"At ease Corporal." The Major said, returning the salute and taking a seat behind his desk. Yasir noticed that there was no chair for him. "Let me explain our situation." He pulled a file out of a drawer on his desk. "The Tau are taking back their planet with a speed that is entirely unprecedented. All over, I have reports from every Regiment on this planet telling me how the Tau are recapturing this planet faster than we thought possible." He sighed. "Right now, we've slowed their progress significantly, perhaps because of the colder weather, but it's only a matter of time before they win this war." He shook his head, opened the folder, and placed it before Yasir. "Eight fucking months on this world, we should have conquered this entire planet by now." He grumbled.

Yasir glanced over at the Commissar, seeing that he hadn't moved except for his eyes, which darted from Yasir's face to the stripes on his shoulder and back, looking right into his eye. Yasir looked away and at the folder's contents. A typed list, scraps of paper that looked like pages torn from someone's journal, and a photocard. Yasir grabbed the picture and studied it. It was an out of focus shot of a building window. But the subject of the photo was clear. A Tau Soldier wearing a white helmet with three red lines on the side.

"In the past month, this Sniper has been destroying our forces across the Regiment, specifically he's targeting our snipers." The Major paused, glanced at the Commissar, then continued. "We believe he's the same Sniper that shot you." Yasir kept looking at the photo. "He's good. Better than any of the other Tau Snipers we've encountered here in the past." Studying the photo, he noticed a small crack on the top of the Sniper's helmet. "He has to be eliminated if we are to hold out until to rest of the Imperium reinforces us. That's your mission. You are to accompany a refurbished Chimera platoon to his last known location, there you will take any and all steps necessary to find and terminate this alien." Yasir looked up from the picture at the Major.

"Terminate, Sir?" Yasir asked, surprised by the use of the word. The Major glanced over at the Commissar, and Yasir followed his gaze with his single eye. The Commissar didn't move but made eye contact with the former spotter before speaking.

"Terminate, with extreme prejudice."


	9. Chapter 9

**Unnamed Tau Controlled planet, number 1187**

**1011 hours (Approximate planet time)**

**L-Day +245**

**290 Kilometers from the landing zone**

The Chimera rumbled as it made it's way down the water soaked street. Sitting inside, Yasir could hear the heavy drops of water rain down on the Chimera's roof as it brought him closer to his destination. He sighed and opened his eye, at last giving up on his attempt to sleep. Chimera's weren't known to be quiet machines, and this refurbished one was ever louder. Even as far away from the engine as he was, he could hear the machine spirit protest against the foreign metal that had been welded onto it's side to repair the hole a pulse cannon had made.

'I guess things just kept getting worse while I was laid up.' Yasir thought. He turned his attention away from the tan metal repairs to some of the other Guardsmen in the vehicle. He wasn't riding with Vardans. Today the Guardsmen he was with were wearing the standard uniform and armor, though the color scheme was mostly a crimson red with some gold. Validians from the 112th Royal Validian Regiment. Sitting next to the squad, Yasir's grey greatcoat stood out more than the base color should have allowed.

Yasir looked down at the greatcoat. Until recently it had been Gazik's, the Medic's hadn't bothered to remove or change the name tape so he had borrowed one of the Validian's bayonets and removed the name as well as the **42** on his right shoulder. He moved the patch with the two numbers around in his hand as he considered Gazik's home world and demise. The Tau had killed his family on Sarith, now they had finished the job here. The no-nonsense Corporal had taught him everything about being a Guardsman, and about being a sniper. Now he was the Corporal and carried the longlas. He felt the Chimera lurch foreword and come to a sudden stop. He took a deep breath and remembered the way that Gazik had always focused on the task at hand. Releasing the breath, he pushed the patch into his pocket and stood, pushing all thoughts of the dead NCO from his mind as well. 'Time to go.'

~/~/~

The Imperial position that the Sniper had last hit was a mess. The Chimera had parked nest to a pair of still standing warehouses. The tan buildings were the only structures made of entirely of stone, and likely that was why they were the only ones still standing. Next to one of the buildings a Basilisk, it's treads broken and long gone, sat with it's gun elevated, firing every few seconds. Stepping off the Chimera's ramp, he was greeted by the full force of the rain he'd heard on the roof of the vehicle. He pulled the collar of his greatcoat up around his neck and stepped off the ramp. In the opposite direction from where he'd come, there were a maze of fallen and crumbled buildings. Guardsmen, Validians and others from units he didn't recognize, crawled along and through the ruins. Not so far ahead, he heard a sound he recognized as a Pulse Salvo from the same kind of Massive Battlesuit he'd seen a month ago.

'Emperor help us.' he thought, making his way towards the warehouse with a ripped and worn banner that read **112** hanging from a broken window. 'Or this planet is lost.'

~/~/~

Inside the warehouse, portable powered lights had been set up and an Engineseer along with a pair of servitors worked on another basilisk. Guardsmen ran back and forth, carrying artillery shells from a pallet in the center of the warehouse outside to the immobilized artillery piece. Passing the pallet, he came to a stairway that led down into the building's basement. In the room at the bottom of the stairs he found a tough box turned on it's side to be used as a desk, and a Validian major sitting behind it.

"I don't care, put Captain Janis on the Vox!" The Major yelled into the Vox Handset he held. "Dead? When?…" He looked up to see the Corporal enter. This Major was much younger than the one who had sent him here, though the current state of the war had aged him noticeably, and his face was marred by a pair of thick scars that bent across the man's nose. The Vox crackled and went dead. The Young Major frowned and slammed it down on the desk. "What do you want?" he asked Yasir. Yasir moved to the position of attention, and saluted. The Young Major starred at him blankly for a moment before returning the salute. Yasir dropped his salute and took out the letter the Major had given him. The Young Major snatched it from his hand and opened it, reading it's contents quickly. He finished the letter and looked back at Yasir, sizing the young Corporal up.

"Hummm." he said at length. "Well, your information is correct, we are in fact experiencing sniper problems, along with a host of others, and this one did recently kill one of our better snipers. A Sergeant…," he looked at a paper on his desk. "Hask, Sergeant Hask. Died three days ago." He motioned to the Vox on his desk. "You no doubt just heard that I've lost communication with the forward element." Yasir nodded. "This sort of thing is happening a lot lately." the Major continued. "Something, alien or nature, will cut the line, we've had to rely on hardwires since the Tau started jamming our vox channels. We'll send out a team to fix it when they go to resupply the OP. Problem is, once they leave here, the front line doesn't really exist." Yasir didn't understand, and it must've shown on his face so the Young Major elaborated. "The Tau are advancing so fast, that some of them are occupying some of the ruins between us and the OP positions. Of course we've got our own guys running patrols out there as well, but they don't know where the Aliens are, and I suspect that they don't know where our guys are either. So this makes this entire district the frontline, with this sniper of yours going to town out there." The Young Major leaned forward. "Tomorrow I'm sending out a squad to resupply the OP and fix this Vox line. If you want to find your sniper, you'll go with."

~/~/~

**Unnamed Tau Controlled planet, number 1187**

**0945 hours (Approximate planet time)**

**L-Day +246**

**292 Kilometers from the landing zone**

It was still raining as Yasir followed the squad out of the destroyed building and into the street. The sky was overcast and as grey as his greatcoat, giving the crouched sniper some degree of camouflage in the pouring rain. The five man squad, all of which carried rucksacks filled with food and ammunition, made their way down the debris littered street. They came to an intersection and Yasir saw a sign out of the corner of his eye. Looking at it, he saw that it was covered in the same sort of symbols the Tau used in their strange language. He reached for the blue book that Gazik had written down everything he knew about the Tau in when a voice brought him back to the task at hand.

"Corporal!" Yasir didn't respond at first, not used to being called by that rank.

'That's right,' he reminded himself, 'I'm the Corporal now, and I can't let myself get distracted anymore.' He turned his head to face the speaker before he could call him again, trying to emulate Gazik's stoicism. The Guardsman who spoke was a few years older than himself. Heavyset and missing his helmet, the Grenade launcher in his hands looked almost small.

"Corporal, the Vox line's this way." he said as he followed the rest of the squad down the left street in the intersection. Yasir nodded and fell into step next to the helmet-less guardsman at the rear of the file, keeping his eyes alert for any movement in the buildings around him. Much like the buildings around the Landing Zone, the tan structures were concrete, and no more than five or six stories. Small and spacious, compared to the Imperium's Hive Cities.

"Do you know where your Sniper got hit?" Yasir asked. The Guardsman looked at him, bit his lip, then turned his gaze to the upper stories of the buildings around them.

"I think it was up ahead Corporal." He said still looking at the buildings. "Sergeant Hask was saying that he thought he might be the alien that's been cutting the line, though I still think it's those black spiky ones."

"Kroot." Yasir corrected as they rounded a corner. The Guardsman shrugged and looked at him.

"Whatever you call them Corporal, they're worse than the Tau." Yasir nodded and was about to speak, when he heard a sound break through the noise of the rain. It sounded like air rushing towards them.

"We need to get under cover now." he said in a low tone. The Guardsman looked from the Corporal to the sky as the sound got louder. "NOW!" Yasir yelled to the rest of the squad. "GET UNDER COVER!" He took off towards a nearby building, jumping through the still intact front window.

The window shattered as he fell through and he landed hard, groaning as he stood. The sound got louder and Yasir looked back out into the rain soaked street. It was completely empty, the squad having apparently followed his orders. Overhead he could hear what was causing the sound as a large shadow passed over the ground. The shadow passed as quickly as it came and was followed by two others. Yasir waited until the sound had faded and he heard the distant chug of an Imperial Hydria Anti-Aircraft gun. He released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding and heard something move behind him.

Yasir spun around quickly and brought his rifle up, ready to put a powerful las beam into whatever was coming up behind him. The Big Guardsman dropped his Grenade Launcher and put his hands up.

"Human! Human!" he said frantically. Yasir frowned and lowered his weapon. The Guardsman pointed to something on the ground. Yasir followed his finger to a tan colored metal disk the size of a dog. He walked up to the disk and knelt down next to it. It was a drone all right, though this one had a dent in one side and a charred hole in the other.

'Someone shot this thing with a lasgun.' He thought. He lifted the dog sized device up. 'No weapons. A spotter drone.' His mind went back to the sniper he'd helped Gazik kill a few months back. That one had been using drones as well. The Guardsman, having recovered his Grenade launcher, stepped closer for a better look.

"Isn't that one of their drones?" he asked. Yasir nodded and stood. "What do you suppose it's doing here Corporal?" he continued. Yasir began undoing his kit and taking off his greatcoat. The Guardsman watched as he tied the grey coat around the barrel of his longlas. "You think that Sniper was here?" he asked. Yasir finished tying the greatcoat to the barrel and began putting his kit back on.

"He's still here."

~/~/~

One hour and three kilometers later, the squad found the Validian Observation Post. Or, rather what was left of it. From their vantage point in an upper story of a building still under construction 200 meters away the six guardsmen saw a dozen or so Kroot eating the remains of their comrades. Yasir saw most of the Guardsmen recoil in disgust as two of the black aliens began pulling on opposite side of the same body, splitting it in half at the waist. The entire scene was made all the more dark by the continued rain. Only the Sergeant and Yasir continued to watch.

"Well," the Sergeant said, suppressing what Yasir guessed was an urge to vomit. "That explains why the cable wasn't cut anywhere." The Imperial Sniper nodded slightly and bit his lip.

'That Sniper _has_ to be nearby still.' he thought, noticing a skillful shot on the severed Guardsman's neck. His thoughts were interrupted by the Sergeant's voice.

"Well then, I guess this qualifies as a change of mission." he said, having controlled his stomach. For some reason, the sight of the Kroot devouring other humans didn't bother Yasir the way that it had before. All he could think about was the Tau Sniper. Behind him the Sergeant was giving orders.

"All right, breaks over, we've got to get back and report this to command." The four other Guardsmen all put their rucksacks back on and started for the stairs. The Sergeant donned his and began to follow them when he noticed Yasir was still looking out the window at them. "Corporal," he said. "We haven't got the manpower to take on all of them." Yasir didn't move. The Sergeant frowned and moved next to him. "Corporal, time to go." he said in a voice that made the statement an order. Yasir twitched as though he'd been brought out of a trance, turned to the face the NCO and nodded.

"Rodger Sergeant." he said and turned to follow after the Squad. The Sergeant frowned.

"Corporal." he said, still standing by the window. Yasir, having already made it halfway to the stairs, turned around to face the Sergeant. "I realize the importance of your mission, but I-"

For the fourth time in his life, Yasir watched someone die as they tried to complete a sentence. The Sergeant's head exploded and blood sprayed out from the remains of his neck and onto the walls. Yasir dropped to the ground, rolling to the left side of the large window that the pulse beam had come through. Below and 200 meters in front of him, he heard a primal sound, as the Kroot feasting on the dead Guardsmen realized that there were human's nearby. The ensuing noise from the Kroot brought the other Guardsmen running back up the stairs.

"Get down!" Yasir yelled, moving along the wall towards them. The helmet-less Guardsman looked at Yasir, then at the headless Sergeant and made the connection, pushing the other guardsmen back down the stairs. Yasir was ten feet from the stairs and the safety of the stairwell, but he had to pass in front of the window again to get there. He took a deep breath, stood and ran. Immediately after he had passed in front of the window, another pulse shot rang out, this one striking the floor ahead of him only a second before he passed the spot. He made it to the stairs and dropped down on his right side, sliding down the stairs as another shot flew through the air above him.

On the landing between the floors, Yasir stopped to catch his breath. 'He knew we were up here.' he thought to himself. 'How could he…unless…' he heard lasgun fire from a few floors below him. 'Unless he planned to kill me here, where the Kroot can finish off the rest of the squad.' He took off down the stairs as fast as he could, taking the steps two or three at a time. They had been on the fifth floor, but the fighting was now closer to the bottom. He reached the third floor and heard the sounds of battle directly below him. As he turned down the stairwell he saw something brown out of the corner of his eye. He ducked just in time to avoid the curved blade.

The blade sliced the air above his head and Yasir rolled to the left, away from whatever had attacked him. He stopped and brought up his rifle, surprised when he didn't see anything there. 'Where did it go?' He thought. Something to his left made a sound, and he realized too late that with his eye gone, he only had half his previous field of vision. His assailant's arm once again came into view on the edge of his vision, however this time it was too fast for him to duck under. He impulsively brought his rifle up, only to have the blade catch on the buttstock and knock the weapon away. Yasir saw another blade come at him, cutting horizontally from right to left. He reached down with his right hand and grabbed the Commissar's chainsword from his left side. The blade locked in between the links of the inert chainsword and Yasir got a better look at his assailant as they struggled for control.

He was Kroot, though this one was a little taller than any he'd seen before, and his skin was a dark brown rather than black. His kit was different than that of the other Kroot's as well. He wore their normal ammo pouches, though they seemed to be made of a better material, and bones of different shapes, sizes, and, Yasir guessed, species. A pair of dark goggles were over his eyes for no reason that he could see. The look was completed by a Tau pulse rifle slung over his back.

The Alien was only holding the blade in one hand, pushing against Yasir's chainsword with the same grip. Yasir shifted his feet and brought his other hand onto the chainsword's hilt. The extra strength of his left hand was more than the Kroot could hold and he began to push the Kroot's blade back. Still, however, the Brown Kroot only used his left hand. Yasir didn't understand, he was overpowering him, yet he didn't even see the Alien's other hand. Then he heard the sound of metal scraping on the floor. His eye went wide and he took several steps back as another blade cut across, it's tip slicing open an empty pouch on his chest. Breaking away from the Xeno, he saw that he held a second blade in his right hand.

'He must have lost it when it hit my longlas.' Yasir thought. The Brown Kroot spun the blades in his hands and gave out another primeval cry. With a jump farther than he'd seen a Kroot do, he launched himself into the air at him. Yasir did the only thing he could think of. He pressed the activation rune on the chainsword and thrust it into the air above and in front of him. The falling Kroot came down right on it, impaling himself on the moving blade.

The weight of the Alien's body on the chainsword knocked Yasir down on his back. He let go of the chainsword and rolled the body off him. Still active, the moving blades continued to cut into the aliens flesh, spraying it's blood all over him. Yasir stood, grabbed the chainsword, and pulled it out. It came out easy and he deactivated it.

No sooner had he returned the weapon to his belt and recovered his longlas than the remains of the squad came up the stairs. Yasir looked at the two guardsmen and frowned.

"Where are the other two?" he asked. The helmet-less Guardsman shook his head.

"Dead, Corporal and-" He was interrupted by a muffled explosion from a grenade. "Dead." Yasir bit his lip. That grenade might by them a few minutes, but they need to get out of the building, and they need to go NOW. He looked in the room connected to the stairwell they were in. The floor hadn't been completed and the far wall hadn't been built yet.

'No going that way.' Yasir thought. 'That Sniper's got a perfect view on us there.' The rest of the room was less promising, the walls for the rooms on the floor were all partially built, giving the entire floor a one room feel. He looked down the floor one way to the building's corner and spied an odd looking tan crane. It didn't look like any crane he'd ever seen, there was no cable or hook and there was no place for an operator. The crane was outside the building, though the arm was level with the floor they were on. An idea came to him as he looked at the crane, though he didn't like it. A primal sound from the stairway forced his decision. He turned to the helmet-less Guardsman and pointed at his grenade launcher.

"Do you have any smoke rounds?"

~/~/~

As luck had it, the Guardsman had one smoke grenade left. Aiming where Yasir told him to, he pulled the trigger and the 50mm grenade flew out of the weapon and impacted along the wall right between their position and the crane. Almost instantly, the entire floor was covered in white smoke.

"Now!" Yasir yelled, running out from behind the doorway to the stairwell and along the wall, sprinting for the crane. The two Guardsmen followed behind him, and all three of the Guardsmen had slung their weapons. Behind them he heard the Kroot spill out of the stairwell onto their floor, their cries strained as they tried to locate the humans in the smoke. Yasir made it to the crane, finding it a little farther from the building than he would have liked, but not having the option to change now. Yasir and the two troopers jumped.

~/~/~

As the smoke cleared, the Kroot could only watch in anger as the two Guardsmen they'd chased up the stairs hopped off of the crane and onto the roof of another building. The black Alien's yelled out in anger and ran back down the stairs, egger to catch up to their prey. As they took off down the stairs, one of the Aliens turned back, looking at the crane again. It walked up to the crane, bladed rifle in hand, and examined it. The Kroot eyes darted up and down the crane's arm, searching for something. After a moment, the Alien made a throaty sound and ran down the stairs. From his position holding onto the underside of the crane's arm, Yasir let out a breath he'd been holding since the smoke had cleared.

Yasir stayed where he was for a full hour after the Kroot had left, certain that the Sniper was still nearby. With care not to fall from the three story height, he swung his legs out so that they landed on top of the crane's arm. Using his legs for support, he started climbing out onto the top of the crane. 'He hasn't shot me yet.' Yasir thought as he pulled himself up. 'So he's not watching this area anymore. He righted himself on the crane and stood. 'Though I don't think he's gone far.' Yasir started moving along the crane to the far end, jumping off and onto the roof of the two story building nearby. He unsung his rifle and began moving across the roof in a low crouch. 'So now it's my turn to hunt him.'

~/~/~

**Unnamed Tau Controlled planet, number 1187**

**1743 hours (Approximate planet time)**

**L-Day +247**

**290 Kilometers from the landing zone**

By the time Yasir made it back to the Validian's headquarters, the Guardsmen there were engaged in battle with the main Tau force. Once again, Yasir found himself behind the enemy lines. This time, however, he wanted to be there. The Imperium had learned something about fighting the Tau in the last two months, and the front line next to the warehouses was being held against their attack, but only barely. Yasir avoided them, moving back out of the street. He'd taken care not to be followed. Moving slowly, staying to the alleyways, he had only left the cover of building he was in to get a better look at the action. He ran back inside the building and dashed up the stairs. Reaching the fourth floor, he turned off and crouched under a window, peeking out at the battle.

The rain had stopped, though the ground was still wet. The damp smell mixed with the burnt flesh and metal smell that the lasgun and pulse rifles caused. The trench line was similar to the trenches constructed by the stairs, except that the Validians had dug in on a slight incline, giving them that much more of an advantage. There were less Kroot as well, he noticed, and the Fire Warriors were hesitant to advance. These factors seemed to contribute to the Guardsman's cause, but he could still see that it was a lost one. He turned his attention back to his mission. Looking up and down the Tau lines, he saw a number of drones, though these were all combat ones, obvious by the pair of pulse weapons on their underside. Those weren't what he was looking for. He looked around the Imperial lines. The bright colored Validians were fighting with all they had, though he didn't see anything special. He spotted the helmet-less Guardsman from before launching grenades into the Tau formation. That was when he saw it. The Guardsman next to the one he recognized suddenly raised his lasgun to point at an upper story of a ruined building. No sooner had he begun to look down the sights, than a hole appeared where his neck met his chest and the man fell over. Even for a Tau, that was a great shot.

Yasir looked over to the left where the Guardsman had shot, seeing three partially collapsed buildings there. The furthest was too far the to right have allowed such a shot, and the closest was filled with Fire Warriors firing from the windows. He wouldn't be there either. That left one building that he could be in. 'But where in there is he?' Yasir thought. The Building was as tall as the others, maybe five stories, and it was done in the tan concrete style, though the window were smaller then most other buildings in the area. Just as he was about to relocate, he saw something white. It was faint, distant. The building was, after all, over a kilometer away. But it was clear. He had seen the white flash from a pulse rifle. And he had seen what window it was in.

Yasir brought his rifle up, careful to keep the longlas's barrel inside the building and resting the edge on the windowsill. He leaned forward and looked through the scope, he'd have to take the shot standing as high as the window was. Just like the first time he'd used the longlas, the building and the target window jumped into clear, close focus through the scope. He could _almost_ see something move inside, but he couldn't tell. He had to be sure, He wouldn't get another shot at the Tau sniper. 'Plus,' Yasir thought. 'If I miss, he probably won't.' He focused on the window, letting the sounds of the battle raging fade from his ears as he concentrated on his breathing.

He breathed in, held it for a second, then slowly released it. Breathe in, hold it, slow release. In, hold, release. As his last breath left him, a white flash came from the window and silhouetted a being there. Yasir pulled the trigger.

~/~/~

It took Yasir over a hour to make his way over to the building. The battle was still ongoing, and he had to duck around the Tau war machines as they advanced, but it had been clear before he had left the first building that the Validians were defeated. He had stayed in the building watching the window for a while to see if he'd hit the sniper or not. There was no more muzzle flashes, and no one had tried to shoot him, but he had known ahead of time that he would have to confirm that the Sniper was dead. He ducked into a culvert as one of the tan hovering tanks that the Tau used came around a corner. He waited as the tank hovered over him, and he heard the sound of hoofed feet on the street above him as a squad of Fire Warriors ran after the tank. When it was silent, he crawled out of the culvert and ran across the street and into the building that the Sniper had been in.

The Building was empty, but that wasn't any surprise to him as he sprinted up the tan colored stairs. He reached the fourth floor and stopped in the stairwell. He slung his longlas and drew the auto pistol in his left hand, and the chainsword in his right. He checked that both were loaded and had fuel respectively, took a deep breath, and started down the right side hallway. He moved slowly, counting off the doors, being reminded of his first mission with Gazik. He came to the right door, finding it the only one ajar. He reached out with his right hand, the one that held the chainsword, and began pushing the door open.

Immediately, he heard the sound of a pulse weapon being fired, and recoiled his hand. The pulse blast blew out a hole in the door above his hand. Yasir spun so that he was standing in front of the door and put the barrel of his auto pistol through the hole in the door the pulse blast had just created. He squeezed off five shots and was rewarded with an inhuman scream. He kicked the door open and ran into the room.

In the center of the room, leaning against the support column, was the Tau sniper. He sat limp, his head tilted to one side. The Tau's pulse rifle lay on the floor next to the window, and it clutched a pulse pistol in his right hand. Yasir saw a scorch mark in his side, where the lasbolt from his longlas had gone in, a pair of bullet holes in chest, one in the top of his helmet and two above his head on the column. He put his auto pistol away and approached the alien. He moved the head to one side and saw three red lines on the side of the helmet and a crack on the top.

'It's him.' he thought. 'This was the Sniper.' He had accomplished his mission. For a long moment he just starred at the dead Xeno. He used one of the many blades on the chainsword to pry the side of the Alien's helmet off. The white helmet broke and a piece with the three red lines came off in his hand. He took his greatcoat off of his rifle, put it back on, and put the piece of the helmet in a pocket. Outside, he heard the same rushing air sound and looked out the window just in time to see a pair of the Tan missile gunships fly over the retreating Validians. He put the chainsword away and reached down, grabbing the Alien's chin with his left hand and the base of it's skull with his right and twisted the head farther than it could safely go. He was rewarded with a wet cracking sound as the neck snapped. He stood and gave the Alien a final look, then turned around and left the way he had come.

**Authors Note: Does one long chapter make up for three short ones and a week long break? **

**Review…Please. **

**Oh, and did I mention: The Entire Warhammer 40,000 Series belongs to Games Workshop, and NOT me.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's note: I know this took me forever, but I wanted to get it right. **

**Unnamed Tau Controlled planet, number 1187**

**1145 hours (Approximate planet time)**

**L-Day +265**

**198 Kilometers from the landing zone**

Yasir felt the Valkyrie drop under him as the dropship lowered itself to the ground. The Imperial vehicle touched the ground harder than he would have liked, and he was tossed along the bench. Crammed inside the Valkyrie with him were other survivors.

He'd been behind the Tau lines, again, when he'd finished off the Sniper. He'd be back there still, had a Valkyrie and Vulture pair not picked him up shortly after. The Crew Chief inside the dropship told him that they had been ordered to pick up any surviving Guardsmen from the various regiments that had been overrun and bring them to the nearest Imperial hard point. Unfortunately, every position they came to, including this Bird's original position, was gone. Overrun or destroyed, they had seen countless examples of the Tau's attack speed and power. Picking up other surviving or, at one point captured, Guardsmen along the way. Sometimes a full squad, sometimes only a team, sometimes just a lone Guardsman. Never any Commissar's or Officers. Only the men who's luck or skill had allowed them to avoid the Tau as they rushed to remove them from their planet. This was the first place they'd come to that was still in Imperial hands.

Yasir still hadn't reported back to the Major on the success of his mission. He toyed with the possibility that the Major was dead since he had see the Hospital he'd been in collapsed and abandoned. He stood with the other Guardsmen and made his way out of the dropship.

Yasir went around to the front of the Valkyrie to find the Pilot. The rebreather wearing man had climbed out of the bird and was arguing with the Fueler on the pad.

"I don't care what regiment you belong to or think you can only serve, My bird needs fuel." The pilot yelled through his mask. The Fueler looked at the Pilot, then the Valkyrie, then behind them at Yasir. He swallowed and nodded, turning around and running for the fuel hose.

'Must be the eye patch.' Yasir though as he reached the Pilot. "Sir, Thanks again for picking me up out there." The Pilot turned around an shook his head.

"Thank-you, Corporal." he said, raising the dark lenses that covered his eyes. "I don't know anyone who knows as much about the Tau as you do. We'd have never gotten half as many guys back without you." Yasir shook his head, thinking about the blue book in his pocket that Gazik had left.

"I've got to go," he said, pointing behind him. "I need to find out if anyone from my regiment is here.' The Pilot nodded, and shook his hand before turning back to the Fueler who'd begun his job.

Yasir turned around and made for the building with three different banners flying from a large flag pole. He was too far away to identify the units, but that would be the place for him to start. He was out of ammo for his auto pistol, had two charged magazines left for his longlas, and the Chainsword was out of fuel. He was hungry, tired, and needed a shower, though he doubted that he could do anything about that last one here. He remembered seeing these buildings before, months ago when the Tau had been in retreat. He took in the position as he neared the building. The Building was in the exact middle of the cleared area. It was a large, official looking building. Three stories tall and with rounded edges, with a large central dome. Around the building were a mix of flat areas, cleared for the Valkyrie and Vultures to land, though there were none here now, and emplaced artillery positions, big guns that belonged at a headquarters. A maze of trenches, dug in tanks, and emplaced heavy weapons surrounded the area and the buildings around it.

'Lot's of ordinance for a foreword base.' He thought as he got closer. 'I was here over six months ago, and that would put this…nearly 200 kilometers from the Landing Zone.' he began walking up the large steps to the domed building. He noticed that the cleared area had once been a large courtyard around the Building, and that the buildings around the courtyard had been only partially collapsed, and many of them still stood above the third story. 'This place will hold out for a while, and we'll still have the rest of the way back to the landing zone to fall back to.' He reached the column lined entrance to the building, spoke to the sentry, and walked in.

The inside of the building was a mess of tough boxes, ammo crates, and, surprisingly, emplaced weapons and sandbags. In the center of the room was a broken statue, two hoofed feet the only indication that the statue had once been a Tau. 'Now that I think about,' He thought, 'This building is a lot like the one Gazik got our reassignment from.' He thought thinking back to their first days on this tan colored world. He was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of a hammer. He looked to his right to see a sunken eyed Guardsman nailing a piece of metal over a window. 'What would he be doing that for?' Yasir though as he passed though another door.

The hallway was filled with junk, Tau and Imperial. With more effort than it should have taken, he navigated the mess and found a sentry with a roll of gauss wrapped around his head.

"Trooper." Yasir asked. "Is the 902nd Vardan headquartered here?" The soldier looked at him, then turned his head sideways to present an unwrapped ear and Yasir understood what his injury was. He repeated himself and the Trooper nodded.

"They are Corporal." he said in a louder than conversational voice. "Them, the 114th and the 564th are the only regiments from the LZ that made it out with anyone above Captain." Yasir frowned at the Guardsman's words, confused, but he decided not to give it anymore thought. He was directed to the Major's office and went to the door.

"Come in." a tired voice said several seconds after he had knocked. Yasir slowly opened the door and beheld the Major inside. The Major was a mess. He was unshaven, probably for several days, and his hair was a unkempt for about as long. His greatcoat was open, and his belt that held his power saber and bolt pistol was off and sitting on the desk. His old eyes starred at Yasir for a while, taking him in for a long moment before he spoke.

"I thought you died." he said simply, turning his attention away from Yasir to his desk, pushing something out of his chair and sliding a mess of papers and his belt to one side of the desk. He sat down and the chair creaked. He looked back up at Yasir. "What do you want?" he asked. Yasir blinded in surprise and cleared his throat.

"Um, Mission complete Sir. The Sniper won't trouble us anymore." He reached into his greatcoat and pulled out the piece of the helmet with the three lines. The old eyes watched him place the white piece on his desk. The Major sighed an looked back at him.

"Good job." he said in a monotone voice. "The Emperor is pleased with you, and you do your family on Vardan proud." he slouched on his desk and began to play with the buckle on his belt. "Though it seems that it will all be for nothing." Yasir tilted his head slightly and furrowed his eyebrows. The Major caught his expression and let go of his belt and sat back up. "I take it you didn't know. The Landing Zone got overrun. Happened the same day I gave you your mission in fact. They destroyed most of our remaining birds, captured or killed most of the officers, and took away our best position on the planet." Yasir swallowed hard.

"How…how is that possible Sir? Weren't there other regiments out defending the other side of the planet?" The Major shook his head.

"Completely overrun. Seems that the Tau force on the other side of the planet was several times larger and faster than the ones we were facing." he reached into one of the desk's drawers. "That was our last chance. If the rest of the Imperium was going to reinforce us, they would have landed there. Now, it belongs to the Tau and we control less than fifty kilometers in any direction." He removed a bottle of gold colored liquid from the drawer. Yasir shook his head.

"There has to be a way." he said. "The sentry, he said that three regiments made it out with their commanders. That's got to at least…10,000 men." The Major shook his head and opened the bottle.

"We have just over 2,000, and by the weeks end, there will be no more Emperor fearing humans left on the planet." Yasir swallowed again.

'2,000 men.' He thought. 'That was it? Had we gone from half a million to a mere two thousand?' Yasir felt at that moment the painful realization that he was going to die, that it was going to be very soon, and that there was nothing he could do about it. The Major began drinking out of the bottle, and Yasir saw that he had probably realized the same thing days ago.

"No." he said aloud, grabbing the Major's attention. "There is something that I can do about it." The Major shook his head and set down the bottle.

"It's over son. We lost. Maybe in another hundred years the Imperium will come back and conquer this world." He set the bottle down and pulled the bolt pistol out of it's holster. "But not now." He said as he charged the weapon.

"Sir…What are you doing?" Yasir asked. The Major put the barrel into his mouth. "Sir! Guard, get in-" The Major pulled the trigger.

~/~/~

**Unnamed Tau Controlled planet, number 1187**

**1143 hours (Approximate planet time)**

**L-Day +269**

**198 Kilometers from the landing zone**

Corporal Yasir of the 902nd Vardan Rifles checked his gear for what he knew would probably be the final time. He had all eight of his magazines and all but two were at full power. His auto pistol was cleaned and coated with the last of the dead Major's unguent. He had two pistol clips filled with auto pistol ammo he'd been given by the Valkyrie Pilot. The Pilot having elected to take to the air during the attack. A Commissar had spotted his chainsword and instructed him on it's disassembly and cleaning, as well as giving him his spare fuel. He crouched low behind the window and listened as the massive pulse blasts flew over and around his head.

The Tau Bombardment had been going on for over three days now. The pulse blasts were innumerable and they were destroying everything, including the collapsed structure he was in, but the big Building in the center. Yasir guessed that it was important to them, and that would explain why they hadn't just leveled all their positions from orbit. He glanced up at the clouded midday sky through the broken roof. 'If they are going to come today,' He thought, 'They'll come now.' He turned to the other Guardsmen in the building with him. They were a mix of grey, green, red and black uniforms. All the regiments of the planet decimated to a mere two thousand men. They looked tired. Tired and finished. They looked all the different kinds of worn out except for defeated. Not one man among the two thousand was going to give anything up to the Tau. They were going to die. They all knew it, but they wouldn't let that stop them. Then the Bombardment stopped.

He looked over the edge of the windowsill and out at the battlefield. There were more aliens than he had ever seen. A solid mass of tan larger than he'd seen in any attack. The large black mass in front, the Kroot, were already running at them. Marching right behind them were the Fire Warriors, their large rifles held up in their strange style. Behind them he could see the edges of their floating tanks and battlesuits as they came around the corner of their buildings.

"TROOPERS!" Yasir yelled. "ON LINE" The multi-colored Guardsmen all stood and crowed into the buildings windows. Below them he could see Guardsmen standing in their trenches, their lasguns pointing out at the enemy. They all aimed at the incoming enemy. Two thousand fingers twitched on two thousand weapons. They all watched the Tau, Kroot, and tan machines come ever closer. Yasir focused on another one of the Kroot 'Shapers' Leading the charge. He put the crosshairs onto the head and waited. They got closer, and closer still, but none of the humans fired any weapon. Then the Aliens got within three hundred meters and Yasir pulled the trigger.

Before his lasbolt had even impacted into the Kroot Shaper and burned a hole in it's face, 1,999 other weapons were fired. A visible line of red flew across and into the Aliens, completely hiding them from view for a moment. The red haze cleared quickly and Yasir saw that they were still coming.

"SWITICH TO FULL AUTO AND FIRE AT WILL!" Yasir yelled, looking for another target. He sighted in on a Fire Warrior and breathed out. Then he pulled the trigger. He didn't watch the Tau fall, but turned to put the crosshairs on another tan armored Alien. He shot again. Then again, this time into another Kroot. Below him he heard a primeval roar as the Kroot closed with the first line of trenches. The Other Guardsmen in the Building leaned out the window to fire on these closer enemies. One came up next to Yasir, leaning out for a better shot, when a pulse blast burned into his shoulder. He fell foreword and out the window, screaming as he fell. Yasir ducked back and below the edge of the window as a salvo for pulse blasts hit the building. The Fire Warriors were in range. He waited until another pulse volley hit the tan concrete. As they were still impacting, he spun out from behind the cover and brought his rifle up. He squeezed off a pair of shots. He didn't see where the second hit, but the first impacted into a Fire Warrior's knee. He jumped back behind cover and another pulse volley hit the building. On the other side of the room, a man fell back as a pulse blast burned into his face, killing him instantly. Somewhere else, he heard another man scream. He heard a deep 'boom' from behind him and knew that their artillery pieces were going to work. He looked back out the window in time to see a part of the Fire Warrior formation disintegrate from a Demolisher round. He sighted in another Kroot and pulled sent out another red bolt. The Bolt burned through The Alien's left shoulder and he starred at the stump in surprise. Yasir ejected the empty magazine, tossed it aside, and pulled another one from the bandolier on his waist. Normally he would have saved the magazines to be recharged latter, but he knew there would be no latter. Below just him, on the first floor of the building, he heard the sound of a lasgun being fired on full auto, and looking down he saw that the only Guardsmen in the trenches were dead.

'Emperor help us,' He thought as he sighted in on another Fire Warrior. 'I thought we might hold out a little longer than this before we'd have to fall back.' He killed the Fire Warrior and took aim at another, noticing even as he pulled the trigger that the Battlesuits and Tanks were in range. He shot and left the window. Another Guardsman took his place as he slung his rifle and pulled out his chainsword and auto pistol. He ran down the stairs to find the Guardsmen there in a skirmish with the Kroot. As he descended the final stairs, one of the black aliens saw him and jumped at him. He leveled the auto pistol at him and fired, the solid round crashing into it's skull and knocking it down. He came off the stairs and approached a fight between a greatcoat wearing guardsman and one of the black xenos. The Kroot brought his bladed rifle above his head and down at the Guardsman. The Human blocked the attack with his lasgun and the two struggled for control. Yasir pressed the activation rune on the chainsword and sliced through the Kroot's thin neck. The body went limp and the Guardsman looked at Yasir. They made eye contact and the Guardsman nodded at him. Yasir nodded back and turned to face another alien. This one was coming through the destroyed front window of the building. He pointed his auto pistol at the Alien and fired. His first shot missed, but he fired twice more and took the alien in the chest. It fell backwards, not dead, but out of the fight. He aimed at another alien, when a swipe from a Kroot rifle's blade cut into his left hand.

Yasir yelled out in pain and dropped the auto pistol. The blade had cut through the flesh of the outside of his hand and bright red blood flowed from the wound. He yelled and brought the chainsword across and into the Kroot the had cut him. He was rewarded with a primevil yell and pressed the chainsword farther into the flesh.

He retracted the moving blade and tried to close his left hand. The pain from the wound shot up his arm and more blood spilled out. He looked down at the cut to try to determine the extent, but the hand was covered on blood. He tried another flex and felt something snap and more pain shot up his arm. He started looking for his auto pistol when he realized that there were no more Kroot. Then he realized why. Yasir dove behind an overturned table as a dozen pulse rifle cracked and shot into the building. He turned off the chainsword and heard a dozen pairs of hoofed feet coming at him. He looked behind him to see a pair of Guardsmen at the rear door to the building.

"Corporal!" they called over the Pulse blasts. "They signaled phase line two!" Yasir's single eye went wide. That changed everything. He waited until another salvo of pulse blasts shot through the room, then sprinted for the door. He dove through the door, followed by a small number of Guardsmen.

Yasir turned around to see one of the two Guardsmen who had called to him fall backwards, a pulse burn on his chest. He looked up at Yasir, his gaze meeting his, then the eyes glazed over. Yasir shook his head, refusing to let himself become distracted at the very end, and put the chainsword away and unsung his longlas. The Guardsmen all took off towards the artillery positions at a sprint, running across the courtyard. Looking behind him, he saw Fire Warriors already spilling out the back of the building. 'There's too many of them.' Yasir thought. The best thing that the Imperial Guard has going for it was it's numbers. Wherever they fought, The Imperial Guard always brought more men to the fight. That was the greatest thing about the Guard. Now, here they were, without numbers, or, the pain from his bleeding hand reminded him, even any kind of extra support.

They reached the artillery sitting on the courtyard, a mere 200 meters from the Building, and two hundred meters from the Tau leaving the ruins that they had just occupied. They took cover behind a dug in leman Russ, and Yasir noticed that Guardsmen were falling back from the other buildings around theirs as well. One of the nearby buildings began to collapse and he saw a Battlesuit breakthrough it. It stopped in the rubble and raised it's pulse cannon. As the weapon prepared to fire a shell from the Leman Russ smashed into the weapon arm of the battle suit, shattering the pulse weapon. Two more shells smashed into the battle suit, and the massive piece of tan metal fell to the ground.

The Guardsmen from the other buildings had reached the line of the artillery pieces as well, and they all turned to fire upon the advancing Tau. Yasir looked down his scope and squeezed off a couple of shots as well, downing a pair of Fire Warriors. He ejected this magazine and tossed it like he had the first one, and reached for another, spilling blood from his hand all over the magazine. He grabbed another from his belt, but the weight didn't feel right. He looked down at it see that the square had no power. He tossed this one as well and reached for another, the last from the bandolier on his waist. He looked at the Tau lines, seeing that they had made it within a hundred meters.

'C'mon c'mon c'mon.' Yasir thought as he ripped a piece of his greatcoat off and began tying it around his bleeding hand. 'They're at the line, where's the-' His question was answered before he could finish thinking of it. The Valkyrie that had brought him here raced across the sky, right at the front edge of the Tau line, dropping liquid Napalm onto the Aliens. The entire frontline was set ablaze by the ancient chemical and he could hear the screams of pain from the Tau and Kroot. He Looked through his scope to see if any aliens had lived, and put a lasbolt into a Fire Warrior that had been fast enough to avoid the attack. The Valkyrie continued to fly across the battlefield and Yasir watched as a melting battlesuit launched a missile at it. The projectile followed the green dropship and collided with the tail. The back of the bird exploded and began burning as the ship crashed to the ground.

Back in front of them, the Napalm had gone out and Tau forces had resumed their advance. The Humans had killed well over their own numbers, but the Tau kept coming. Yasir could see Fire Warriors and battlesuits still coming through the destroyed buildings. A pair of colored rockets flew out from their Building and exploded harmlessly in the air.

'Third Phase line.' Yasir thought, then aloud. "You men, fall back to the Building." He raised his longlas and fired at another Fire Warrior, killing the Tau with a shot that went through the colored dots on the tan helmet. He turned and followed the Guardsmen back towards the Building, hearing the Leman Russ's cannon fire on the Tau, as well as the sound of air rushing towards them. He spared a glance back just in time to see a pair of tan rockets fly out of the sky and detonate on the tank, destroying the vehicle completely. He pushed himself harder, moving as fast as he could, and feeling the pain from his hand shoot up his arm again. He reached the stairs and took them two at a time, reaching the top in a hurry and ducking behind a column. Other Guardsmen were behind him, and as he turned, he saw several get cut down by pulse blasts. He raised his longlas and took another shot a Fire Warrior, taking this one in the thigh. He shot twice more, taking two more Kroot down before he heard the Guardsmen moving the heavy steel doors of the Building. He stepped back, firing as he went, into the Building as they closed the doors. He ran to a nearby window, taking up a firing position next to a Techpriest who held a lasgun in one human and one mechanical hand. Yasir looked out and began focusing on the battle when a familiar voice brought his attention back to the room.

" An 'ere I thought I 'eally won't see ya again Corporal." Yasir turned around to see the Tall medic with the scar on his chin standing there, a lasgun in his hands. He moved up to the window between Yasir and the Techpriest, bringing his weapon up and aiming out the window. "I 'pose I sho'ed be a lil' mad at you 'ough." he said in his strange accent. Yasir raised and eyebrow over his empty socket.

"Why should you be mad at me?" he asked, glancing back out the window to see how close the Tau were. The Medic shrugged and pointed a left handed finger at him.

"I spent all 'at 'ime digging out ya bad eye, 'aving ya life. An now 'ur 'bout to die 'nyway." Yasir shrugged and reloaded his weapon.

"Yes, we are about to die." He looked out at the battlefield. The last of their tanks were either in pieces or burning and the first of the Kroot and Tau were already within a hundred meters of the building and were firing at them. He looked through his scope and put the crosshairs on another Kroot head, and with a pull of the trigger ended another non-human life. They kept coming and he saw a pair of the missile gunships fly towards and strafe the building as they flew over. Inside a Guardsman screamed, hit in the arm. The Guardsman bit his lip, dropped his lasgun and drew a laspistol in his unharmed arm, returning to the window he'd been at. The last few hundred Guardsmen on planet 1187 put their weapons out towards the Tau, took aim and fired. Yasir aimed and shot at another Fire Warrior.

'Still too many.' he thought as he realized that this magazine was only half charged. He pulled his second to last magazine out of his bandolier, reloaded, and took another aimed shot. The Tau gunships came back again, and this time one fired a single missile at the door to the Building. The missile detonated and the two metal rectangles flew backwards and slid across the tan floor. They were now only 50 meters from them, a pair of battlesuits in the forward group. 'This is it. No where to fall back.' he thought as he killed another alien. The first of the Tau reached the stairs and a pair of Guardsmen, one of them the Medic, moved in front of the doorway to fire on them. The battlesuit raised it's pulse cannon arm and Yasir was starring straight down the barrel. Then a giant blue pod flattened the battlesuit.

The pod was at least twenty feet tall, hexagonal, and a dark blue with a large white **U** on the side. With a hiss, the sides of the pod opened up and Yasir saw the most glorious sight he'd ever seen.

They were covered from head to toe in dark blue armor, the same white **U** from the drop pod on their shoulders. They were man shaped, but judging by the Tau they were next to, they were taller than any human could be. Their helmets covered their heads completely, complete with red eyes. Their weapons were big as well, Storm Bolters, Yasir realized, and they all carried a large chainsword on their belts. Leading the blue armored group was an un-helmeted one carrying a massive powered sword. His skin and hair were white, though his eyes were red as the helmeted ones.

The Tau didn't stand a chance. They seemed confused at first, not expecting the arrival of these new warriors any more than the Humans had. The bolters tore through their tan armor and the one with power sword closed with them and began hacking the aliens to pieces. All Yasir and the other Guardsmen could do was watch as the newcomers ripped the Tau to shreds. Behind them, more of the pods were falling from the sky, hitting the Tau army in the courtyard. More of the Blue Warriors spilled out, as well as some squat blue colored walkers. In minutes, the entire Tau army was engulfed in the fight. The one with the power sword halfed the last Fire Warrior at the bottom of the stairs and turned to the Building and began walking up the stairs as the rest turned to finish off the Tau.

"Are there any of the Emperor's servants still alive in there?" he called as he reached the top. The Guardsmen at the windows all hesitated and looked at Yasir. The One-eyed Corporal looked back at them, swallowed, and left the window and walked out of the Building. He stepped up to the Huge man, finding him at least two feet taller than himself. The massive Man looked down at him. "Guardsman Corporal, are you leading these men here?" he asked. Yasir looked over his right shoulder at the Guardsmen standing behind him in the doorway to the Building, then back at the Man, feeling his mouth dry up.

"I…guess I am." he said. The Man nodded and moved his power sword to his left hand then extended his right down towards him.

"I am Brother-Captain Marcus, Commander of the 5th company, Ultramarines Space Marines. My Chapter has been ordered to assist in the conquest of this planet. Where do you need us?"

~/~/~

**Epilogue **

**In Orbit Above Unnamed Tau Controlled planet, number 1187**

**1400 hours (Approximate planet time)**

**L-Day +315**

Navigator Kashihan looked down at the planet below him. His headache was back and it was worse than ever, but that was of no surprise to him. Whatever it was giving him these headaches, it had to do with the planet and that was that. Not that it mattered to him. He fumbled with his dress uniform with his right hand. Straightening the name tape, smoothing out a crease, and adjusting the pin that kept his left sleeve folded up.

As a Navigator on an Imperial Battleship, he qualified for an augmatic limb. He had considered it when they offered it to him, but only briefly. It was an inconvenience to be without one of his arms, but he didn't need it to do his job.

'Besides,' He thought, looking around the Bridge at the other officers. The Lieutenant keeping watch noticed his gaze and a look of concern crossed his face.

"Kashihan." he said. "Are you alright?" The Navigator's discomfort must've shown on his face. Kashihan nodded slightly.

"Yes, just the headaches I was telling you about." The Officer frowned, glanced over at the bridge's other occupants, then back at him.

"You should come see me latter." he said. "I've got some Terran Brandy. I always have a little when my head acts up. I wanted to talk to you about the last engagement with the Tau here anyway." Kashihan nodded and turned back to the planet.

'Proof that I faced the Emperors enemies in battle and the associated respect is worth a little inconvenience.' He looked over as the other occupant of the bridge was joined by his two cohorts. The ones who were the reason that he was in his dress uniform. A Commissar, a member of the Inquisition, and a Lord Commissar no less. 'What could they want with this world?' he wondered. But, he quickly put the thought from his mind. Ever since he had lost his arm, he'd avoided worrying about things that didn't concern him.

~/~/~

Commissar Janus looked across the bridge at the one armed Navigator. It was virtually unheard of for Navigators to see combat, let alone be wounded, but here was one. He harbored no love for mutants, no self respecting Commissar did, and he had always maintained that non-mutants could, with proper training, navigate the Warp fine.

'But this one at least _earned _it's sanctioned status.' He thought as the door behind him slid open. He turned to see the imposing figure of a Lord Commissar. A man wearing the wide brimmed hat of the Inquisition trailed behind him.

"Janus." The Lord Commissar said. "Has it been recovered?" Janus nodded and spoke.

"Yes Lord Commissar, I oversaw the extraction of the relic this very morning." Janus mentally replayed the morning he had spent uncovering the relic. The meter tall, meter thick obelisk had been the reason that the Imperium had come to this planet in the first place. The Inquisitor nodded quickly, a hungry look in his eyes.

"Very good, very good," He said rubbing his hands. "I'll go see it now." The Inquisition man left and the Lord Commissar moved to the front viewport, looking out the large window at the planet. Janus swallowed hard, searching for something to say to the living legend standing near him. He glanced down at the planet.

"Interesting world Lord Commissar." he said looking from the planet to his superior. "Of the half a million Guardsmen in the original invasion, only some 200 survived until reinforcements arrived." The Lord Commissar said nothing and continued starring at the planet, his expression neutral. "I wonder if this relic was worth all their lives?" The Lord Commissar turned his head sharply and narrowed his eyes at him. Janus could feel the acquisition in his glare and quickly covered for himself. "Of course Lord Commissar, I forget." he said quickly.

"The ends _Always_ justify the means."

**THE END**

**Author's note: If you make it all the way to the end, thank you. I hope you all had as much fun reading this as I did writing it. Please tell me what you thought of it. **


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